


A Debt Payed

by Star-Lord Stark (SpookzMagenta)



Series: Blackmail is a Harsh Term (Let's Call it Chicanery) [3]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Dimensions/Timelines, Angst and Feels, Bastardized Norse Mythology, Frigga Revived, Frostiron Bang 2015, Infinity Gems, Inhumans (Marvel), Intersex, Jotunn | Frost Giant, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Mpreg, Smut, Snarky Bastards Falling in Love, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 12:05:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5205266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookzMagenta/pseuds/Star-Lord%20Stark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony had thought he’d been starting to get the hang of the whole magic thing, not to mention the dating the God of Mischief thing.  Tony had thought wrong.  In the aftermath of Ultron, Tony had no idea what to think anymore, but he did know that he couldn’t be trusted.  The Avengers had crumbled, Loki was still away in Oz playing puppet-master, and Tony felt more alone than ever.  But that was about to change.</p>
<p>(Payed: to slacken, let run out a little bit at a time [nautical]).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Defenestration 2.0

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot express how grateful I am for my artist, Letzi, for joining me for the second time with this story and making such wonderful art for this fic. <3 Letzi, you're seriously my hero for taking this on at the last minute, despite the challenges that RL kept throwing our way on the road to finishing this.  
> Links for Letzi's beautiful art can be found in the notes for the chapters the pieces correlate with, as well as in a note at the end of the story.  
> This is part three of four of my series, Blackmail is a Harsh Term. I'd love it if you all checked out the previous two installments in the series, A Favor Owed and A Service Rendered, but for all you new readers, you should be able to enjoy this this fic on its own, as well. Part four has now been posted and is only three chapters away from completion.

Tony listlessly swirled the bourbon in the crystal glass he held, mind blessedly blank after recent events. The Avengers no longer existed in their original incarnation. They’d fallen to pieces from the further machinations of a puppet-master they had yet to guess at, for while Tony wasn’t certain, he greatly suspected the idea for Ultron that had been sparked after they re-recovered the uru staff had been planted in his mind by some other source, and he wasn’t talking Maximoff. Von Strucker having the staff was really evidence enough in and of itself. Regardless, his own actions, whether voluntary or manipulated, had driven a final wedge between the Avengers. And who could blame them? The hits they had taken had been devastating. 

Tony wished he had spilled the beans earlier. Fucking hell, how he wished he’d come clean earlier. Thor was on their scent, now, and getting a legion of superheroes back together, cooperating with and trusting in him, after the canker that was Ultron had come between them and begun to fester... it was likely an impossible task. Tony downed the rest of the liquor from his glass and poured another. 

Loki had been MIA for the entire shit show, no surprises there. The god had been blocking him, too. Even with his magic, which was quite formidable now, stable despite the absence of the tether that Loki’s magic had been, all Tony came up against was a wall. He had grown powerful, but apparently was still no match for a sorcerer who did not wish to be found. And Tony worried; gods did Tony worry. After all, now he knew that Thanos could influence him, could control him, without him even being aware. He was dangerous, to himself and to the people he was trying to protect. That was the real reason he had walked away from the shambles of the team that had come to mean so much to him. 

So wrapped in his own melancholy was Tony that he did not sense the static of teleportation in the air, and thus, he was taken entirely by surprise by the hand wrapped suddenly around his throat, the mouth snarling inches away from his own, as he was lifted from his seat to dangle in the air like a limp doll. 

“I cannot leave your side for a moment that you do not ruin everything, you foolish human.” And man, Loki’s eyes were really spitting fire. Tony didn’t think he’d seen him this worked up since he played would-be-invader with the Avengers what now seemed like eons ago. 

Tony made no effort to free himself, eyes meeting Loki’s in defeat. He didn’t know what it would take to break the hold Thanos had on him, but he did know that he didn’t have it, and for all his power, neither did Loki. The god seemed even more infuriated, if possible, by his unenthusiastic response, and Tony felt himself being suddenly flung through space, felt something shattering around him. Glass. It was a sensation he’d become far too familiar with, and really, being defenestrated by his lover for a second time was just insult to injury. He felt himself falling through space and closed his eyes in resignation, but the impact he expected with the mansion’s grounds didn’t happen; he stopped, floating, just above the ground, his own magic glowing with near malevolent strength around him when he opened his eyes. He’d summoned it unwillfully, and he snuffed it out with nearly as little effort as he dropped the final inches to the ground and met Loki glower for glower. 

Suddenly, Loki’s glowering features shuttered, grew blank and cautious. Tony had never liked that expression on the god, the sort of revelations it led to. 

“Anthony... are you using your magic?” The question was nonsensical. They both knew that if he were, Loki would be able to sense it. 

“No, Einstein. Which you’re already perfectly aware of.” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed in contemplation, the only tell he gave for his uncertainty. “Your eyes... they’re blue.” 

Tony gave a start, slowly raising himself from the ground. He shook his head in bewilderment, still dazed and slow on the uptake. Loki affected unconcern, rolling his eyes and walking back towards the mansion. Tony haltingly followed behind, and when he entered the foyer, glancing into the elaborate mirrors still adorning it from his parents’ tenure there, he sucked in his breath sharply at the glowing vibranium blue of his eyes. 

“That’s... new.” But was it? He wondered just how long, in fact, this change may have been present, with him being too belligerently apathetic to even notice. It’d been... possibly weeks, even, since anyone else was around to notice. 

“I believe it’s time you called back our dear Dr. Banner.” Tony huffed out a breath, full of apprehension, but he knew if any of the former Avengers would return to his side, it was Bruce who had been by him all along in this mess and who knew more of his and Loki’s secrets than the others could even guess at... Bruce who had been manipulated by his fear of Thanos, who had taken the worst hits. 

Loki walked away from him, pouring a drink for himself, and as Tony watched he downed it in one unrefined gulp, eyes pulsing green with his magic, and tore suddenly at his wrists. Tony nearly bolted to his side, but then he realized with disturbing clarity just what Loki was doing. The god bared his teeth as the magical bindings came into view, and suddenly, Tony could feel his own magic being pulled on. The chains seemed unfazed, undamaged, unbreakable until, quite suddenly, they snapped with a burst of magic that flared outward and toppled both Tony and Loki to the floor. Slowly, Loki stood, examining his wrists where twin runic brands now rested, and vanished the remnants of the bindings with distaste. 

“Since Thanos’ reach is obviously greater than even I anticipated, as proven by recent events, there is no use in my hindering myself any longer.” Tony felt a trill of something akin to foreboding race across his spine. “Besides which, now that my ‘brother’s’ suspicions have been roused, I will need all of the power at my disposal to maintain my current charade.” 

Tony inclined his head, filing away the knowledge that if Loki could pull on his magic when he was in need of it, then Tony could do the same with Loki’s. Tony turned, heading toward the ornate sofa that he’d carelessly thrown his tablet on, and quickly delved into the search for Bruce. 


	2. All that Glitters is Green

Loki and Tony had stiffly crawled into bed together the night before. No more words were exchanged, and each kept carefully to their own space. When Tony woke the next morning, ill-rested, Loki had already made his escape from their bed. Tony found him, reading sullenly in his mother’s library. 

Tony decided to leave his sometimes-lover to his solitude, and made to make himself presentable for Bruce’s arrival. This time, when he looked in the mirror, he stopped in shock, noticing what he had not noticed before when it was eclipsed by the glaringly obvious change in his eyes. He carefully fingered where fine lines had once curled around the corners of his mouth, his eyes. They were no more. His hair was darker, thicker than it had been since his twenties. He looked... as young as Steve or Loki, now. It was... disconcerting. And now that the booze had worn off, he could tell he felt different, too. Better, faster, stronger, and all that jazz. He sat on the floor with a huff, cradling his head in his hands. What he wouldn’t give for JARVIS right now. But JARVIS was Vision now, and Tony would have to reprogram all of his systems if he wanted his favorite AI back, after a fashion. 

Slowly, he pulled himself up from the floor and into the shower. Bruce would be here soon, and even if Loki did not, could not, understand where Tony was in his head right now... Bruce had been there. Bruce knew. Bruce may not be “that kind of doctor,” but Bruce would understand; Bruce had been complicit in what had happened like Tony had, and for now, that would have to be enough. 

  


When Tony stepped out of the shower and dressed himself, he noted the looseness of his clothing. While he’d been fighting fit for a man of his age before, it seemed his body had streamlined to a fitness of more youthful proportions. When he examined himself in the mirror, the change in his appearance was damning. It was a good thing he’d mastered glamouring himself not far into this charade to hide his re-installed arc reactor and the scars that the combination of his and Loki’s magic had added to his collection of oddities. While he’d never had to apply a glamour to his entire appearance, he didn’t imagine it would be too different from glamouring individual components. And if he was wrong, hey, it wasn’t exactly like he was entertaining much company these days. 

He finally pulled himself away from his reflection, going to hunt down Loki while he waited for Bruce to arrive. Loki’s silent condemnation was the last thing Tony wanted to deal with right now, but after weeks of isolation, he knew it was better than the alternative. When he walked into the library, Loki stubbornly continued his reading until he came to the end of the chapter. Only then did he raise his eyes to where Tony stood in the doorway, and their slight widening, for someone who knew Loki as well as Tony was coming to, was giveaway enough of his reaction. Loki hadn’t noticed, yesterday, either. It was hard to tell if this change had come after, or if Tony’s magic peepers and the grime of his recently isolated lifestyle had masked it the previous day. 

Tony finally made his way into the room, taking the chair nearest to Loki, but still seated some few feet away from the deity. Loki continued to look at him askance for a few moments, then pretended to return to his reading. Tony could read him well enough to tell he wasn’t successful in his efforts, that his thoughts were only occupied by the recent changes to Tony’s person. 

They remained in silence for the rest of the day, pretending not to observe each other, until finally, blessedly, Tony heard the alarm trip to let him know someone was on the premises. Within a few minutes, the speaker on the front door was activated, and Bruce’s voice was projected over the intercom. 

“Tony?” 

In a flash, Tony teleported himself down to the main entrance of the manor, sliding open the door with a fond, if haunted, smile. Bruce returned it, for a moment, before his eyes widened. 

When Bruce said his name this time, it was filled with a wealth of questions. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s new, at least I think it is. Not been so good on the personal upkeep, recently, y’know?” Bruce nodded slowly, trailing inside behind Tony. “Bruce, look. I know I let you all down. I know this was my fault. You’re the only one who knows the real reasons, besides Loki. It’s not fair of me to ask you, not after everything, but I need you with me on this. I need your help if we’re going to warn the others. And I, uh... I might be a little afraid of what’s happening to me. I’d... if you could stick around to keep an eye on me, it would... I need you here Bruce.” 

Bruce was silent, thoughtful for several moments. “I knew you would need me wherever you ended up, Tony, I just needed some time. Just because I understand the why of everything, that it wasn’t our fault... well, almost destroying the human race isn’t something you just ‘get over,’ is it?” Bruce clasped a timid hand on his shoulder. “But we both know we can’t afford to self indulge right now. We’ve got bigger problems. So, yeah. I’ll stick around, so long as you keep me away from innocent bystanders.” 

Tony let out a relieved puff of breath, swooping in to hug Bruce. The doctor stiffened briefly at the contact before wrapping his own arms around Tony. If either of them trembled, well, neither of them was going to mention it. 

  


Bruce tutted over the samples he’d taken from Tony. “Were I to guess, I’d say physically you’re at your peak again, somewhere between 25 and thirty. Your cells aren’t aging or dying off at all.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Big shocker there, Bruce.” He yelped as, suddenly, Banner sliced open his palm with a scalpel. He watched in horror as his flesh slowly began to re-knit itself. “Holy hell, Bruce, what was that for?” His heart wasn’t in the complaint, as he was still too horrified by what he’d just seen his own flesh do. 

Now, it was Bruce’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know very well what it was for, and I’d say we got a definitive answer.” Bruce peeled off his gloves. “Tony, I’d say you’re nearly on par with Thor or Loki’s physiology, now. You’re aging so slowly it doesn’t even register for any technology available to us on earth, and you're metabolizing so quickly that you can heal almost instantaneously.” Bruce tapped the skin beside of Tony’s eye. “The magic seems to have integrated with you pretty fully at this point, as well.” 

Tony twiddled his thumbs, not quite meeting Bruce’s eyes. “Uh, Bruce. There’s something I kind of forgot to tell you, given everything that’s been going on.” Banner’s frown spoke volumes. 

“I may have tweaked Extremis so it wasn’t unstable anymore and, uh, dosed myself with it until it could realize its full effects.” 

Banner’s eyes flashed with green, and Tony didn’t blame him one bit when he stormed out of the room. Was a tad relieved, even. 

  


Once Bruce had sufficiently calmed himself, he made the likely unwise decision to confront Loki. Tony had given him the grand tour of the manor after he’d arrived, and Bruce was pleased when his guess that Loki would still be skulking about the library proved correct. He entered slowly, cautiously, but with enough noise to be certain that the god was aware of his approach. 

Loki lazily met his eyes. “Why, Dr. Banner. To whatever do I owe the pleasure?” 

This was not the easy banter he and the Asgardian had shared in Stark Tower, back when Loki had felt the need to wear the glamour of Lyell when in his presence. Bruce felt a frisson of fear go down his spine at his proximity to the dour deity, but he’d be willing to bet what small amount of money he possessed that the god was equally discomfited by his presence. It was a shame, for he had grown to enjoy his friendship with the Loki he had known before, but he wasn’t above using it against the Trickster now. 

He came to sit in front of Loki. “I believe you know why I’m here already, Loki.” He paused to search the god’s face. “You need to settle your grievances with Tony, and the sooner the better.” 

Loki closed his book with a theatrical sigh. “I do not see what business it is of yours, Banner.” 

Bruce let a trace of the anger he was feeling, anger due to the threat that was looming over their heads, flash in his eyes. He could tell by the way that Loki stiffened that he saw that hint of unnatural green. 

“Tony is fragile right now, but more powerful than he has ever been before. Thanos has unrestricted access to him. You’re the only buffer he has, and you’re also the reason that he was afflicted by Thanos in the first place.” Bruce’s eyes were hard as he pinned them on Loki. “You cannot blame him for what happened. If anything, it is a result of your own actions, that he has been so easily made a puppet for a power that is so far beyond anything we have faced before. If you do not mend the relationship you have with him, it will be all the easier for him to be used against us, and you will not win the support of any of the others. You need Tony and you need us, and we both know it.” 

Loki’s lip curled into a snarl, but Bruce turned away from him. At least, after letting a final flicker of the Hulk rise into his eyes before he rose to leave the room. It was possible that he could have made things worse by his interference, but then, what more did they have to lose if Tony could not be saved? 

  


Loki seethed at Banner’s foolhardy display, but more so from the resonance of truth he felt at Banner’s words. However, Stark had let himself be defeated once again, and when Loki had finally appeared at his side after feeling the gnawing chasm of despair in the Midgardian, he had found him as hollow and broken as he had when they began their pact. They could ill afford such a regression now, of all times, and Loki could ill afford to babysit with the whole of Asgard to oversee and his fool of a foster brother to keep off his scent. 

But Loki, himself, had proven no more strong when faced with the reality of Thanos, when forced under his control. He had slipped his leash, but Tony could not. How much further must that eat at the mortal, especially when he did not have the good fortune to be under that control at all times? Tony was aware of his precarious situation, aware to atone for the sins he had been made to commit and to live in dread of what he may be made to do next. 

Yes, perhaps the good doctor was right, and perhaps, all things considered, Loki may just let him live in spite of his insolence. 


	3. Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Tony wasn’t exactly feeling the socializing shtick, after Bruce’s poking and prodding was said and done, and went to isolate himself in the lab he’d long ago set up in the basement of the manor. He’d built enough suits since the Ultron fiasco that Pepper would have been in palpitations, had they been in contact at present. Tony turned his gaze on the target dummy he’d set up on the far end of the lab. He summoned a torrent of blue flame in his palm, and it quickly burned so hot it went nearly white in color. With a thought, he sent it hurtling at the reinforced dummy, and upon impact, it exploded violently. A flick of his fingers contained the damage, and with a wave of his hand, it was as if the explosion had never been. He turned around as he heard a slow clap start behind him. 

“It seems your power has indeed grown, Stark. But then, we both knew that.” 

He met Loki’s eyes disinterestedly. “What do you want, Loki?” 

The god gripped his chest in mock pain. “It seems someone did not take kindly to my inattention.” 

Tony turned back to his tech. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Get to the point so we can get whatever it is you have in mind over with.” 

All Tony got in response was silence. When he turned, the Trickster looked uncharacteristically uncertain. Loki slowly approached him, reaching out a hand to trace across his face. 

“Have I damaged this thing between us so badly, then?” 

Tony jerked away. “Fuck, I don’t know. Why don’t you flitter off to your throne, or whatever it is that you do these days?” Tony saw a trickle of hurt in Loki’s eyes, but to hell with that. “You’ve left me alone for all of this time, and when you do finally show up, you think it’s fun to throw me out of a window again? Ignore me for days because you’re angry about something that I had no control over? I get you had a fucking mess to clean up, but what do you think we’ve been dealing with down here? Fucking rainbows and glitter?” Tony flung himself down on his lab bench, facing away from Loki Liesmith. 

Loki approached him with utmost caution, slowly bringing himself to sit as closely to Tony as possible without actually touching him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached out to take Tony’s hand. Tony jerked at the contact, but did not pull away as Loki laced their fingers together. Minutes ticked by until, slowly, Tony thawed, leaning into Loki. 

“Listen well, Stark, for it may well be the only time you gain such an admission from me.” Loki paused, sighing. “I have handled things with you poorly, since my return, and even before. I should not have barricaded you from reaching out to me, but you were a distraction I could not afford at the time. When I returned, I was as furious with my own inattention as I was with your inability to combat the manipulation you faced in my absence.” His hand around Tony’s squeezed. “I am sorry, Anthony. It was never my intent to take out my frustrations on you. I’m afraid I’m ill suited to this manner of relationship.” 

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly, refusing to meet Loki’s eyes. “You don’t get to decide that. I do.” Loki’s forehead came to rest against the side of his face, and he felt the puff of his breath as he chuckled soundlessly. 

The god reached up to turn Tony’s face slowly toward him. “Yes, I daresay you do.” Loki’s lips met his own, and Tony was lost. 

Tony leaned into the familiar coolness of Loki’s body almost desperately. The kiss started out gentle, almost sweet, as preposterous as the notion was, but could only remain so for a moment, a heartbeat, before it turned into a bid for dominance. Loki pulled Tony gracelessly onto his lap, wrapping Tony’s legs around him and running his hands up Tony’s back. Tony gave a shiver in response to the delightful chill of those cool fingers on his skin again before he, in a reversal of their usual roles, sent them hurtling through space to land in his bed. He felt Loki smile against his mouth, shark-like and all teeth, before their mouths were gnashing together again. 

Finally, Tony worked up the effort to pull away. “Get rid of the glamour, Loki. I want to be touching your real skin when you fuck me.” 

The god gave a growl at the demand before his skin flushed indigo, the color painting his body artfully within a few seconds. This time it was Tony who growled, ridding them of their clothing with a thought and a careless gesture, the desperation he felt welling inside of him something unfamiliar, unable to be dampened or tamed. The force of it scared him, but not as much as the thought that this might never have happened, that he might never have touched Loki this way again. 

Tony felt drunk on the sensations running amok through his body in a way he never had before, and from his hooded eyes and the openness of his expression, it seemed Loki was similarly afflicted. Tony ducked back down to kiss Loki’s lips, and reveled when the Trickster flipped them over, spreading the length of his body over Tony’s. The same nearly violent energy as always sparked where their skin met, as their magic made contact, and Tony closed his eyes in bliss. He felt Loki’s fingers, wet and hasty, at his entrance and stilled the god’s hand. 

“I don’t need it.” Loki searched his eyes and seemed to find no hint of uncertainty in them before he was overcome by the need urging them on. He spread the lube over and inside of Tony before coating his cock with it and pressing slowly in. 

Tony gasped at the intensity of the sensation, and Loki barely managed to still himself above him. When Tony writhed underneath him, in obvious pleasure and not the pain his partner was expecting, the god’s hips began to pump forward, setting a punishing pace as Tony met him thrust for thrust. Something was different this time, but Tony’s mind was too clouded with need to be able to parse it out, and Loki was every bit as incoherent. So Tony reveled in the electricity of the contact between them, in the savageness of their lovemaking, wrapping himself as tightly around Loki as the laws of physics would allow. 

He could feel their magic spark and crackle between them, and when he opened his eyes and fixed them on Loki, could see the glow of it there, red in his Jotunn form instead of its usual green, and see it pulsing between their chests, their hands where Loki joined them together, and he cried out in an agony of pleasure as the scars their combined magics had wrought in their flesh welled with power at the contact. The glow of magic between them was a teal tinted violet, and Tony could feel concern welling within him underneath the growing pleasure. 

But Loki was canting his hips at just the right angle, catching the cries that fell from Tony’s lips with fervor as he slammed himself home inside of Tony over and over again. They made eye contact and held it, and Tony could both feel and see the tether holding Loki back from his pleasure snap at the same instant as his own. The god quivered above him as his hips jerked and stilled, and he collapsed into the mess of semen that coated Tony’s torso. As the warmth of his orgasm faded, Tony felt a further warmness spread through him, lingering for disconcerting moments as he began to be pulled back to his senses. He looked up at Loki, dazed, his memories of their encounter hazy and dream-like. He could see the unease in Loki’s own eyes as he met them, see the confusion that was growing there. Tony felt himself grow, abruptly, cold at the implications. They remained silent for far too long for Tony’s comfort before Loki’s hand came up to caress Tony’s hair. 

“Stark, whatever just occurred between us, however much it may have been initiated by us... it was unnatural.” 

Tony shuddered. “But why would Thanos...?” Tony could not finish phrasing the question. 

“I am uncertain, but whatever his reasons, they can be for naught but ill. Let us just hope his only goal was to show us just how easily he may still manipulate us, that it is he who holds our strings.” With a flick of Loki’s hand they were clean, and when Tony began to shiver beside of him, Loki returned his glamour, wrapping an arm around Tony and drawing him close. 

Tony nuzzled into the hollow of Loki’s throat. “Whatever his intentions were, let’s not think anymore on the subject for the foreseeable future. I may be kinky, but that is a kind of voyeurism and power play I could never get behind.” 

Loki huffed a half-hearted laugh against Tony’s hair. “For now, let us just enjoy that we are together, for that is so seldom possible of late, whatever the circumstances.” 

But as Tony lay wrapped in Loki’s embrace, he could feel the god’s disquiet, and it was equaled by his own. Being Thanos’ pawn was wearing on him, and with each day that his power grew, his fear grew in equal measure. Tony wondered how much longer it would be safe for anyone, even a god as powerful as Loki, to be near him. He had begun to grow afraid that proximity would soon no longer be issue, that in the near future he would present a danger to them all. It was that fear that had driven him away from the Avengers, not his guilt. Tony had no idea what he could do to protect earth, the Avengers, and Loki from himself when that time finally came. 

As he lay in Loki’s arms, he determined to put it out of his mind, for the time being, as until it happened, there was nothing more that he could think of to do. He did ascertain that he would manage to reveal the truth to the Avengers, past and present, and soon, whatever the cost. But given his most recent misdeeds... He had no idea how he would manage to approach them, much less manage to get them to stick around long enough for them to hear him out, for him to get them to believe in him again when he revealed his deception. 


	4. What Goes Up

Tony and Bruce had settled into an uneasy sort of routine since Loki had, yet again, flown the coop (with a proper goodbye and the insinuation that he would return in a more timely fashion this go ‘round). Tony had gotten a new AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y. up and running in the manor, sans a bit of the pizzazz he had imbued JARVIS with. With that taken care of, Tony had begun to hack into other systems, looking for bad guys to crop up, and going out to patrol on the DL. 

Thus far, he’d managed to avoid the new incarnations of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, but he had no doubt that they were suspicious of the cleanups Tony had been doing and likely had their eye on him. Tony knew he needed to follow through on what he’d been planning, needed to contact them and spill the beans, but he had yet to figure out what, precisely, the best way to go about it would be. He was probably on their watch list now, after the business with Ultron, and in an entirely more serious way than when he’d been a wild-card S.H.I.E.L.D. had thought might someday be of use. 

Tony was flying over the Atlantic when starbursts started imposing on his vision. He had enough time to panic, but not enough time to set to autopilot or contact Bruce, before his vision began to black out entirely and he started to fall, unconsciousness pulling him down into its grip. He plummeted toward the dark depths of the ocean beneath him, breaking the surface with an explosive splash and sinking quickly under with the weight of his suit. 

  


Loki felt the pull of Anthony’s panic at the edge of his consciousness, standing unhurriedly from his throne on Asgard. He inclined his head toward Thor, who stood before him. 

“You must excuse me, my son. There is something that requires my urgent attention.” Thor gaped at him as he slowly made his way out of the throne room. As soon as its doors were closed behind him, he teleported to Anthony’s location, appearing hovering over the surface of the water. He cursed as he saw the mortal’s form slipping further into the murky depths of the sea and dove down beneath the waves in pursuit. After what seemed like ages, his hand came to grip the other man’s armor, and he used his magic to teleport them both to Bruce in the manor. Loki gave an undignified gasp as he got a proper breath of air, quickly harnessing his magic to pull the armor from Anthony and dry them both. He turned to a stunned Bruce. 

“Quickly! I do not know what ails him. He lost consciousness before his fall into the sea.” 

Bruce rushed to check to see if Tony was breathing, if his heart was still beating, before turning his attention to Tony’s other faculties. 

“Can you not use your magic? I imagine it would expedite things considerably.” 

“I regret that the healing arts are those that I have most neglected in my studies. Were it a wound from battle, I could heal it in an instant, but other ails may well take me longer to identify than your mortal methods. If you can discover the source of what ails him, I may be able to fix it, however.” 

Bruce was surprised at Loki’s acknowledgment of this shortcoming, but quickly turned to examine Tony. 

“I already performed a scan, but could find no injuries to cause his state.” 

As Bruce palpated Tony’s torso and abdomen, he thought he felt something strange. “Loki, could you whip me up an x-ray machine, and maybe an MRI, with your magic?” No sooner had he posed the question than suddenly he was surrounded by the equipment he had desired. Loki stayed well out of his way as he performed the tests, and as Bruce developed the pictures, he felt a wave of concern wash through him. 

“Loki, do you think you could do a scan of Tony’s torso for me? There’s... well, there’s some kind of interference showing up on the scans I ran, and I can’t see his organs or anything else I need to. I think the interference may be magical.” 

The way that Loki’s face blanched as he approached was far scarier to Bruce than his own suspicions had been. Loki raised his hands and held them over Tony’s prone form, and after a few moments, they began to subtly tremble. He lowered them. 

“The magic obscures even my view; I believe I may be able to sense a mass. I think it is what is producing this field of magic that is interfering with our methods. It is likely what has caused this episode.” 

Bruce scanned the god’s face. “Do you think Thanos did this? Or is it some kind of reaction, maybe, to the reactor, to the magic?” 

Loki turned guilty eyes toward him. “I do not know. The only person I know who may be of help to us is dead.” 

Silence reigned afterward in the lab until, slowly, Tony began to stir. As he examined their faces and remembered his plummet into the ocean, he began to feel distinctly uneasy. 

“Guys, why the grim and gruesome faces?” 

The looks they turned on him were by turns helpless, hopeless, and determined. Loki cleared his throat. 

“I will be going on a journey, Anthony, and doctor Banner is going to see to your care in the meanwhile.” 

“My care? You’re talking like I have some kind of plague.” 

Bruce sighed. “More like potentially terminal illness, Tony. We think there may be a mass in your abdomen, magical in nature, either put there by Thanos or in reaction to the foreign magic of the reactor.” 

Tony swallowed. “So, where you off to in my time of need, Reindeer Games?” 

Loki gave a grim smile at the pet name. “I must journey to Hel, for I have solved the hellhound’s riddle.” 

Loki held Tony’s eyes for a moment, trying to communicate something to him, but damned if Tony knew what. Then, the god vanished. 

  


Loki carefully followed the threads of magic through Yggdrasil’s branches to the last realm he wanted to visit. As he set foot on Hel’s shores, he examined the barren, rocky landscape around him. The shores of the ocean that surrounded the island were filled with black sand, the sky and the sea around it dark and void. Loki spotted the cave almost immediately, and with foreboding, began the trek to it. When he reached its entrance he paused, sensing the tingle of very real and very recent magic around him. So the realm did have a guardian, then, even without Hel herself yet in residence. 

He journeyed through the dank and lightless caverns, which grew dimmer and colder the further in he traveled. He could sense the increasingly gargantuan nature of the space surrounding him and, eventually, he could feel and hear the breath of a beast just as gigantic. He reached out, feeling the magic that emanated from it, and smiled. It matched the magic he had sensed when he entered the caves, and it was familiar magic, indeed. Loki stepped closer. 

“Hello, Garmr.” He could sense the wolfish mirth of the creature standing inches away from him, feel the puffs of breath from its doggish chortle. 

“Hello, Fader. I see you’ve finally solved my riddle. Did you come to the solution of your own accord, or did it take your lover’s failing health for you to puzzle it out?” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed, but he refrained from rising to his spawn’s baiting of him. “Does the reasoning of it truly matter? It was still my mind that parsed it.” 

He could sense his progeny’s smugness. “You know he will not allow me to just hand it over to you, not after last time.” 

Loki inclined his head. “I had expected as much.” With nary a pause or a shift in demeanor, he hurled bolts of ice at the creature he would someday claim as his son. Garmr loosed a howl that shook the very foundations of the earth around them, and then the battle began in earnest. 

As the guardian of Hel proved he had not only inherited his acerbic tongue from his sire, Loki shifted to his Jotunn form, blazing red eyes lighting the cavern around them along with the glowing yellow of the hellhound’s. He hefted the traditional Jotunn ice blades he had forged and imbued with his magic after his last trip to the misbegotten realm of his birth, growing them to encompass both his arms and extend his reach. As the hound launched its considerable bulk toward him, he feinted, then slung the dwarven bindings he had repaired towards his get. As their magic contained Garmr’s, the hound shrunk in size. He waited for it to revert to its human form, and was surprised when it stopped its transformation still in its animal form, but along average wolf-like proportions. 

“So, this is your true form.” 

“For now, yes. When I reach my maturity, I will be as I was when you first saw me.” The pup cocked its head in his direction. “How very clever of you, binding me like that. And you’ve imbued the chains with your own special something.” Garmr remained where he was, immobile. 

“Worry not. I shall unleash you when I have that which I came for and am removed from your reach.” 

“Would that you simply leave me here, but he would release me if you did not.” 

“I suspected as much. Now, where is that which I seek?” The hound inclined its head behind Loki, and as he turned, he spotted the opening to another cavern. In this cavern sat a throne, and upon it, the soul gem glinted malevolently. 


	5. Mr. Sunshine and Dr. Mean and Green

Tony jerked awake at a rumble of thunder just outside of the manor. He reached out with his magic, sensing for what was amiss, and now that he’d been made aware of it, the seething mass of magic in his innards was only too obvious each time his magical senses reached out. It only seemed to grow stronger as the days went by, as Tony himself grew weaker. Bruce hadn’t forbidden him anything yet, other than liquor and tobacco (and needless to say, all other mind altering substances) and leaving the grounds of the mansion. 

As Tony reached out past himself with his senses, what he found made him only all the more uneasy. Sure enough, as he brought himself upright, heading for his bedroom door, he heard banging on the front door. Knowing Bruce would make it to the door to answer long before he made it from his wing to the main wing downstairs, Tony unhurriedly headed in that direction. He followed the sound of Thor’s voice to his mother’s old sitting room, which Bruce had grown fond of in the weeks he had been there. He could see the moment Thor noticed his presence in the way the thunder god’s eyes widened, his jaw going slack. Thor really was the polar opposite of his younger brother is so many ways. Then, Tony imagined it was rather a lot to take in: his altered eyes, his sudden youthful appearance, and the haggardness his features had taken on as the current threat to his health continued growing stronger. 

“Hey, Point Break. What brings you to my humble abode?” 

Thor stood, reaching out to grasp Tony’s shoulder as he came within range. “Son of Stark, what has befallen you since I last saw you?” The concern in his voice was real, and telling. 

Tony gripped the giant paw the Thunderer was resting on his shoulder. “Oh, you know. The usual. A little mind control, a little life threatening illness.” He watched as Thor’s eyes widened and the Asgardian went quiet. “C’mon. Have a cup of Bruce’s tea, settle in. Tell me what’s been up with you.” He herded Thor into an armchair between himself and Bruce. 

Thor’s face was grim. “I have been searching for my brother. Our recent battles together distracted me from this task for some time, but now that this world is safe and I have witnessed a vision sent by the Norns, the more certain I am that something greater, something dire is happening. I fear Loki’s involvement.” Thor sipped from his tea cup, which looked distinctly absurd in his large hands. “I have petitioned my father for his help in this matter, in tracking down both Loki and the answers I seek, but I fear my father has taken my mother’s death and the battle with the dark elves far more harshly than I anticipated. He is not himself.” 

Tony hummed in thought. “That sounds like some serious stuff, big guy. What brought you to my neck of the woods?” 

“I have feared for some time that you were involved in my brother’s plans, whatever they may be. Now that I have seen your present state, I cannot help but think that my suspicions were correct. It is truly tragic that my mother was among the casualties in Asgard’s most recent war. Not only would my father likely have aided me in my attempts to locate Loki, but she would have been able to identify what ails you, would likely have been able to alleviate it.” 

Tony turned a questioning look to Bruce who, after a contemplative pause, nodded in return. 

“Thor, just how convinced are you that your brother is up to no good?” 

Thor’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask such a question, Stark?” 

Tony narrowed his eyes in kind. “Because your answer determines whether or not I have to wipe your memory of this visit and send you packing.” Tony’s eyes glowed with magic as it swirled at his fingertips, glowed with the magic that had in part been bestowed upon him by Thanos, for better or worse. Did Tony know if he could actually do what he threatened? Not really, but hey, what did he have to lose by bluffing? 

This time, Thor’s eyes widened in shock before his face turned grim. “What reason have I to trust in my brother’s lack of culpability in whatever madness is being plotted against us?” 

Tony smirked, but his eyes were absent of mirth as they gazed into Thor’s. “Because right now, I can tell you exactly where your brother is. He’s journeyed to Hel in order that he may procure what he needs to restore your mother’s life.” 

Both Thor and Bruce looked at Tony in shock. 

Tony saw the moment that Thor cottoned on. “Lyell. Lyell Smith. I cannot believe how foolish I was not to see it. Your lover, all along he was Loki.” 

Tony inclined his head. 

Thor spluttered. “He has fooled you, Stark. Masqueraded as someone who cared for you, only to reveal himself and convince you he is not what he seems.” 

Tony interjected, softly. “I knew who he was from the beginning, Thor. The masquerade was only to fool the rest of you.” 

Thor looked at him in horror, then turned that look on Bruce. “Banner, you knew of this? For how long?” 

Bruce took off his glasses, fiddling with them awkwardly. “I guessed, pretty much from the beginning. Then, Tony was a little more forthcoming about the... changes... he was going through with me. I knew it couldn’t be coincidental.” 

Thor turned his probing gaze back on Tony. “He used the Mind Gem on you. That was when it began, was it not?” 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “The Mind Gem never worked on me, not like you’re thinking. It didn’t react normally with this.” Tony tapped the arc reactor and saw Thor’s eyes widen in horror, noticing what he had not in the face of the more unfamiliar alterations to Tony’s person. Tony gave a bitter smile. “Your brother reinstalled it to make certain that the reaction the arc reactor had begun in my body, and that the Mind Gem had accelerated, ran its course. I improved upon it a bit on my own with Extremis, after I tweaked the formula.” 

Thor’s horror had grown exponentially throughout the conversation, that much was obvious. Bruce interjected. “Tony was imbued with magic from more than just the Mind Gem. It tied him to your brother, to the Tesseract, and to a much greater danger. We’re still uncertain which influence is behind Tony’s illness, if it is not just a culmination of those forces.” 

Before Thor could do something ill-advised, like attack them, or go running off to tattle to the other Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony decided fuck-it and showed his hand. “Thor, what do you know about the Mad Titan?” 


	6. Over the River and Through the Woods

Loki approached Folkvangr with much more hesitance than he had approached Hel. Hel was a realm he was all too familiar with, despite his avoidance of it. Folkvangr was foreign to him, and he knew its mistress held no affection for him. It was much harder to trace this realm’s magic through the branches of Yggdrasil, but when he arrived, all around him was peaceful, quiet, soothing. He could feel the powerful presence of the realm’s keeper all around him, however, and knew she had already sensed his presence. It was no surprise, for the living had no place in the lands of the dead. 

As he tread across the lush valleys of Folkvangr, Loki could feel the dissonance his presence wrought upon the land, and soon enough, when he reached a copse of trees laden with ripened fruit, he turned to find her behind him. Freya, one of the few sorceresses Loki viewed with respect and, perhaps, even a hint of trepidation. The goddess was as beautiful as Odin had described her, her features having not been ravaged by time since she was tied to a place that did not know its passage. 

“Loki Lost-One, why have you come here?” Her voice, while as beautiful as the rest of her, was biting with command. 

Loki held the Soul Gem in his palm, away from the cord it hung from on his chest, and watched it pulsate gently with power. That she used that moniker startled him, but he hid it well. The goddess’ eyes narrowed, thoughtfully, though she gave little other indication of her surprise. 

“I have come to retrieve my mother’s soul.” 

“Young Prince, you know as well as I that I am unable to grant you that.” 

Loki stroked the gem contemplatively. “But you can turn a blind eye to my stealing it, for the right price, can you not?” 

The look the goddess pinned him with this time was much less genteel. “I’m afraid that would depend upon your intent.” 

“My intent, Lady Freya, is exactly what you fear. I intend to revive her, but not in the manner that you believe.” Loki let the gem slide under his collar to rest against the bare skin of his chest once more. “The Soul Gem is not the only pretty trinket I have acquired of late.” 

Freya turned away from him, hands clasped behind her back as she walked further into the copse of trees. “You would alter the very nature of time and space to achieve this? To what end, Liesmith?” 

“I would, Lady, that I may give the Nine some small hope of survival. The Queen is the only one who may be able to undo what has been done to my lover, and I fear if she does not, that hope is gone. I was arrogant and foolishly spurned what I felt was the less useful knowledge she could impart to me in order to focus on that which served my needs. If he is to be saved, if he is not to be used against us, I must undo the death which was never meant to be.” 

Freya continued in silence until they came upon a break in the trees. There sat a hall: the hall of the dead, Sessrumnir. 

“You assume much about your mother’s death, young Loki. Pray tell why you believe it was not of the Norns’ design?” 

Loki’s eyes flashed grimly with his magic. “Upon my mother’s death, I inherited something from her in spite of the fact that we were not tied by blood.” 

Freya paused at the door to her hall and turned to him. This time, her eyes did widen slightly, betraying her shock. 

“The ties of magic appear to have been stronger than the ties of blood in this regard, for I have been imbued with the Queen’s ‘gift’ of foresight.” 

Freya lightly touched her hand to the runes carved upon the door to her hall. “If you have been gifted with the sight, then you know what price I will require of you for that to which you have asked me to turn a blind eye.” 

Loki smiled, crookedly. “It seems we have come to an understanding, Lady Freya.” Loki turned and entered the hall, pulling the Soul Gem from his tunic once more, eyes glowing green with power as the gem hummed with magic in his hand. He reached out with the force of it, seeking, seeking, until he found what he had come for. As he came face to face with the specter of his mother, Loki gave an honest smile. The one she returned to him was full of understanding before he pulled her from her peaceful afterlife and into the confines of the Soul Gem. 

  


Tony jerked awake thrashing, then made a dash to the en-suite bathroom to violently bring up the remnants of whatever meal he’d last eaten. The vomiting seemed to last for ages before, finally, he hung his head over the porcelain of the toilet seat, exhausted and with nothing left to bring up. After he managed to stand and flush the toilet, he examined his reflection in the mirror. He’d been losing weight, but his abdomen was slightly bloated from the roiling magic within it. His veins leached blue with it, much like when his and Loki’s magic had reacted so violently at being stretched across the vast distance of space. 

His pallor and the bags beneath his burning eyes made him look strung out, and often, when he slept, he could feel Thanos’ presence whispering damningly to him in his dreams. He worried the connection between them was growing stronger as the husk of his body withered away. His magic certainly was increasing, by leaps and bounds that meant a careless gesture from him could result in an entire room vanishing or blowing up. So, he’d taken to not using it at all, more than tired of unwelcome surprises. He huffed a sigh as he began to carefully brush his teeth, wary of his gag reflex. When he next looked in the mirror, it was to find both Bruce and Thor watching him with concern. 

“We heard you screaming in your sleep again, Tony.” Bruce laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Do you mind if I check you over to make sure you’re alright?” 

Tony gave a flippant shrug of his shoulders. Sure, fine, whatever. Let Bruce make sure he wasn’t dying any faster than he had been that morning, or the day before, or the day before that. It made no difference to him, anymore, and if it made Bruce feel less helpless, the least he could do was let him check his vitals and run a few blood tests. 

Thor had been surprisingly quiet, and surprisingly biddable, since their little talk the other day. He’d hung around since then, too. Tony had known all along Thanos was the big bad of big bads, but this cowed reaction from the thunder god made that knowledge somehow more... tangible, and devastating. Tony sat quietly as Bruce stuck him with a needle, drawing a few vials of blood after checking his blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. Tony sighed in something akin to relief when he left the room with his samples, leaving Tony alone with the creepily silent Asgardian. As per usual of late, Tony’s blood pressure and heart rate were low enough to be of concern, and Tony figured when the blood work came back, his blood sugar would be the same. It seemed not actually being able to keep down any food wasn’t agreeing with him.

He started when Thor came to sit next to him on his bed. Finally, when Bruce returned, Tony decided to acknowledge the elephant in the room. 

“The mass is getting bigger.” Bruce looked at him, weariness in every feature. “Pretty quickly, too. Given that, and the effect it’s had on my magic, things don’t look too good, do they?” 

Bruce rubbed where his glasses rested on his nose. “All of your systems are going haywire. I don’t know how much longer you can hold out while we’re waiting on Loki.” 

Tony hummed in contemplation. “Bruce, I want you to try and take it out.” 

Bruce’s face blanched. “But Tony, we have no idea what might happen. The reaction your magic alone could present could be devastating, but we have no idea what we’re dealing with when it comes to whatever magic is eating away at you now.” 

“Does that mean you aren’t willing to give it a go? It’s been over two months already, Bruce. We have no idea how much longer Loki may be.” 

Bruce sighed in defeat. “You could end up dying, Tony.” 

He met Bruce’s eyes. “I know. I already am.” 

  


As Tony slipped under the anesthesia, he did so with a sense of relief. One way or the other, whatever happened while he was under, whether Bruce removed the source of whatever was killing him or the surgery did him in, at least he wouldn’t be subjected to this slow and crawling malaise anymore. 

  


Loki teleported to where he felt Anthony’s presence in the manor and felt his eyes widen in shock at the scene he was greeted with. The mortal was surrounded by metal instruments and blue cloth, hooked up to tubes as Dr. Banner held a scalpel over his abdomen. Before Loki could react, could call out or reach out with his magic to stop what was unfolding before him, as the scalpel made contact with Anthony’s skin an explosive burst of magic sent them ricocheting into the walls of the lab. Dazed, Loki slowly picked himself up, meeting the horrified eyes of Banner. 

He walked cautiously over to Anthony, pinning Banner with a stern glare. “I could have warned you attempting such a procedure would be ill-advised.” 

The good doctor met him glare for glare. “You think I don’t know that? It was Tony that insisted on it, and I honestly can’t say that I blame him. You haven’t been here to see how badly his condition has deteriorated. He wasn’t willing to chance waiting any longer.” 

Loki pulled on his mother’s soul in the gem, letting it come to rest in his flesh for the moment. His eyes turned the soft blue of his mother’s as she spoke through him. “Perhaps it’s best that I take over from here.” With a wave of Loki’s hand, she stripped Tony of the medical accouterments surrounding him, then laid his palms flat over Tony’s abdomen, his eyes falling shut as she reached out with his magic. Loki observed, a passenger in his own flesh, examining the delicate construction of her spellwork. But he soon realized, as she pulled away, that the answer would not be so simple. 

“Loki, dear one, I am afraid I am little good to you outside of my own flesh. Your magic does not work the same as mine, and its connection with this mortal makes it nearly impossible for me to gauge the sort of answers you seek of me.” Bruce looked on, eyes narrowed in disbelief. “However, I can tell you that whatever this foreign magic may be, it is not in and of itself malicious. That obviously does not mean, however, that it is not capable of causing great harm.” He felt her spirit draw away with a final parting warning. “Do not attempt to remove it again before we have regained my body, whether by magical means or mortal.” 

  


As Tony regained consciousness, a dull roar in his ears, he began to pick out the sound of harshly whispered conversation nearby. Had the surgery been successful? He still felt like shit, but after surgery and a prolonged period of illness, wasn’t that to be expected? After all, he was still alive, so that was a good sign, wasn’t it? He cracked open his eyes, registering with dull horror the sight before him. 

Loki and Thor stood about a foot apart from each other, Loki’s lip pulled back in a near snarl as his foster brother seriously invaded his personal space. Tony cleared his throat, only belatedly realizing that Bruce also stood nearby watching the spectacle of the two brothers in concern. It took Tony clearing his throat a second time, more loudly, to get their attention, but when he did they whipped around in unison, eyes similar in that moment in the way they softened in concern. 

When Bruce met his eyes, they were full of guilt, and Tony was so not about that. “It didn’t work, did it?” 

Bruce gave a small shake of his head. “The magic repelled us, violently, before I could even make an incision.” 

Tony sighed in defeat. “Lokes, please tell me you have better news.” 

Loki’s face was grim. “Unfortunately, I do not currently have the means to aid you, myself. I will need more time to procure the last remaining gem before I can bring forth someone who can.” 

Thor pulled Loki aside. “Loki, you will not revive our mother! It is not right.” 

Loki’s eyes flashed, dangerously. “Who are you to tell me what is meant and what is not? You who wield no power of your own, you who the Norns have not seen fit to gift with anything save for your preposterous hammer?” Loki’s smile turned vicious. “Who do you think inherited her legacy when she passed on to the next world, with no magical heir born to her by blood?” 

Thor’s eyes widened. “No. You can’t be.” 

Loki turned his back on Thor. “If you will not aid me, Odinson, do not dare stand in my way.” With that, he stalked over to Tony, gripped his hand, and flashed them into Tony’s bedroom. When they arrived, Loki looked him over, eyes pinched with worry. 

“Your health has deteriorated so drastically in such a short time. I worry that you will succumb to this before I am able to return.” He pressed a gentle hand to Tony’s forehead. “Your skin is cold and clammy. Come back to bed where you will be warm.” 

Tony acquiesced with little resistance, meeting Loki’s eyes as the god shuffled to sit on the bed beside of him as he wrapped Tony in his comforter. Tony reached out to squeeze his hand. 

“I’m glad you’re here, Loki.” 

Loki’s eyes were guilty. “Would that I did not have to leave again so soon, Stark. But I fear that if I do not, you will no longer be here upon my return.” 

Tony smiled grimly. “You give me too little credit, Lokes. This isn’t my first rodeo. But go on, I’ll hold down the fort until you get back.” 

Loki didn’t look like he was buying Tony’s bullshit any more than Tony was, but he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to his lips, squeezing Tony’s hand before he vanished. 


	7. Dragons and Giants and Gods, Oh My!  (Well, Sans the Dragons)

Heimdall did not acknowledge his arrival, but Loki knew he had sensed him. Loki had appeared before the other god undisguised, without his guise of Odin. He waited for the other god to speak, knowing that however much was his mistrust of Loki, his dislike of the fallen prince, that Heimdall’s sight would not allow him to ignore his presence now with so much hanging in the balance. After some time, his patience was rewarded. 

“Why have you come, Loki Lost-One?” Loki repressed a shudder at the name the Mad Titan had bestowed upon him. 

“If you know enough to know that title, then you know what I have come for.” 

“I also know of your current masquerade as Allfather.” 

“Then you know that, for once, my schemes are not for ill purpose.” 

The other god remained silent for some time. “That remains to be seen.” After what seemed like an eternity, Heimdall spoke again. “All that you seek lies deep within the bowels of Muspelheim where it is guarded by Surtur and Sinmara.” 

Loki felt himself grow cold with Heimdall’s words. 

“They were imprisoned there to ensure Freya’s cooperation, and with her, Freyr.” For the first time since Loki had arrived, Heimdall met his eyes. “Norns be with you on your quest, Laufeyson, for none else shall be.” The god turned his all-seeing gaze back to the fathomless depths of space past Asgard’s borders and Loki prepared to request a favor of the kings of Jotunheim. 

  


Loki kneeled before the monstrous figures of his only two blood siblings, comically dwarfing himself by comparison. He remained in that position for minutes, until he sensed more than saw the elder of his two brothers, Byleistr, motion him to stand. 

“Kings of Jotunheim, I have a proposition for you,” Loki rasped in their gutteral tongue. 

The laughter that poured forth from their giant maws was deafening. When silence once again reigned, the younger of the pair cocked his head and smirked. “What’s in it for us?” 

Slowly, Loki smiled. “If you assist me in procuring that which I seek, Laetvateinn will be yours.” 

His brothers’ mirth died and he saw a keen spark of interest in their bloody eyes. They stepped forward, crowding him, but he made no move to step away. 

“Then, Loptr, it is possible that we may strike a bargain.” 

  


The heat of Muspelheim buffeted the Jotnar as they stepped through the portal Loki had created. Even the glamours he had employed and the soothing coolness of his magic surrounding them was not enough to negate the painful toll it would take on their bodies, adapted to such drastically different climes. Loki only hoped they would be able to reach the planet’s fiery core before that toll became too severe for them to accomplish what they had come for. Disguised as they were as fire giants, they drew little attention unto themselves from the miserable lot that inhabited the planet as they trekked to the foot of the mountain that loomed above them. Loki scanned his surroundings, searchingly, until his eyes lit upon a boulder, immovable for his small form without revealing his seidr. 

He turned a questioning eye to his brothers, whose towering forms stepped forward and heaved at the stone. Loki watched, impressed in spite of himself, as the horrible weight of the stone was shifted aside easily by two of his own ilk. Never had he felt the limitations of his size more acutely than in that instant. However, for his purposes, it usually suited him better to be the more unassuming stature he had been spawned with. When the stone was fully pushed aside, he viewed the tunnel behind it with no small amount of smugness. He walked through the opening ahead of the hulking bulk of his brothers, leading their way ever more steadily downward into an all consuming heat. 

He felt the weakness pouring into his limbs from the oppressive temperature of the planet’s core, and knew his brothers must be faring far worse, considering they had not been forced, from an early age, to adapt to the climate of a more temperate planet. He pushed more magic into preventing them from overheating, preventing the blood in their veins from boiling, glad for the fact that he had broken the bindings he had placed on his magic for perhaps the millionth time since his quest to revive Frigga had begun. 

Their journey to the planet’s core lasted hours, and by the time they reached their destination, the heat was indescribable. Loki had dared not teleport them to their destination, not knowing for certain what dangers may lie in wait. Loki was exhausted and on edge from the strain of keeping up the magic that kept their ill-suited bodies from crumpling from the constant misery of the heat. He could tell his companions fared far worse. As he came to a halt, their forms came to rest, towering behind him. He lifted a palm, producing a hearty jet of red flame, lighting the series of looming tunnels and caverns around them, constructed along the proportions of giants. A heavy door, every inch of its surface carved in runes, stood before them. 

His brothers turned their blood colored gazes on him. “What grand scheme do you have to get us past this next obstacle, runt?” The other member of the pair chortled. 

Loki’s lip curled in disdain. In all honesty, he rather had difficulty differentiating his kin, as they were both so similar in bulk, coloration, and the raised markings that decorated their skin were all but identical due to their lineage. He imagined the clever quip had come from Byleistr, however. He tended to be more assertive than the youngest born, Hellblindi, though both could prove equally venomous. 

Loki stepped forward, the flame in his hand diminishing to a small, steady plume. When he reached the door, he blew softly, the flame arcing into the central rune on the door. The runes were interconnected, and as Loki fed more flame the vibrant red spread outward, filling the symbols that decorated the door until none remained unburning. He allowed himself a small, satisfied smirk, and stood aside as the heavy door swung slowly open. 

Hellblindi’s lips curved into an unnerving smile. “Perhaps we have underestimated the usefulness of our littlest kin, Byleistr.” 

Even more unnervingly, Byleistr turned a contemplative gaze on Loki. “It would seem just so.” 

Loki shook off the connotations of their distracting chit-chat, deciding to worry about this newest dilemma at a later time, if indeed he lived to worry about it at all. He followed his irksome relations into the chamber beyond, where he could see a pit wherein the core of the planet burned and pulsed with molten heat. Indeed, there was little of the chamber that was not occupied by that pit, and little to keep one from falling into it as they walked around its edge. Loki felt glad for his comparatively minuscule stature in that moment. 

His eyes searched their surroundings warily, for he knew Surtur and his consort must be nearby. He could feel their power emanating from the space around them. When his eyes finally lit upon their figures, Loki wondered, idly, if he had indeed bitten off more than he could chew in his current undertaking. Surtur’s bulk broke the molten surface of the planet’s core as though he’d merely been taking a dip in a lake, and his form was truly gargantuan. The giant’s massive horns surely must have been the length of Loki’s own body, if not greater. When its eyes lit on the interlopers, seemingly flame filled pits, Loki truly doubted he would live through his mad plan to see his other machinations to culmination. And then Sinmara broke through to the surface. 

The giantess was beautiful, but even more terrifying for her beauty. Where Surtur was horrific, grotesque, towering horned and cloven hooved, Sinmara had flowing hair made of flame and a face that would match that of a dark elf for its exotic and haunting beauty. But her eyes, too, burned with flame, and as the pair rose from the molten core around them, flame surrounded them, building higher the further they pulled themselves from its embrace. 

The giants were not hurried. No, they need not be hurried. When they had fully extricated themselves, Loki’s eyes sought out the prize he needed to procure for his brothers’ compliance. He watched in horror as Sinmara brought it forth, gripping the hilt and pulling it in half. The severed halves mended themselves, grew, becoming complete weapons identical to that which they had once formed. Surtur smiled with malice, revealing glistening fangs, as he took one of the flaming swords for himself. 

The giant spoke in a voice like gravel. “For what do the sons of Jotunheim dare trespass in my realm?” 

Loki stepped forward. “I seek the prisoner the Allfather commissioned you to keep and the item he was tasked with guarding.” 

Surtur laughed, the sound bellowing around them and shaking the ground on which they stood. “Why would I part with anything I possess for the fallen prince of Asgard, the patricidal prince of Jotunheim?” 

Loki turned a smile that was all teeth on the giant now standing before him, nearly burning him with the heat of his behemoth body. “Are you certain of from whom it is you take orders?” In a flash, Loki wore the skin of Odin, directing a one-eyed gaze at the fire giant. He could feel the consternation emanating from his siblings behind him. 

“Has the deformed son of Laufey committed regicide once more?” 

“What need is there, when Odin is weak and crumbling in the aftermath of his wife’s death and his realm’s near destruction? Surely you did not believe the old fool capable of the decimation of the dark elves?” Perhaps he was playing too many of his cards, but there seemed no better time than this to reveal this particular deception. After all, the masquerade was never meant to be permanent. It was always to be a means to an end. 

Surtur turned to Byleistr and Helblindi. “You would support this abomination, after what he has done to you and yours?” His brothers made grunts of confirmation, and Surtur gnashed his teeth. “Odin should not have meddled when it came to you, Liesmith. He should have left you to die, as your sire had intended.” 

Loki tutted. “Woe unto him that he did not.” 

Sinmara ran a soothing hand down her consort’s arm. “Now, now. Is that any way to welcome our guests?” The sickeningly sweet tone of her voice told Loki just what kind of hospitality it was that she would prefer Surtur employ toward their unwanted guests. 

Surtur’s eyes narrowed. “But of course, my love. Wherever are my manners?” 

Loki braced himself, and sure enough, that was when they made their move. Unfortunately for him, Surtur made a target of Loki’s brothers. That left Loki with Sinmara whom, while less outwardly terror inducing, he was almost certain possessed magic the likes of which Surtur could not hope to harness. When the treacherous giantess flung a ball of molten lava his way, he was grateful his intuition had served him so well, if disappointed that in this circumstance it had proven correct. He just barely managed to dodge it in time. 

Loki was too skilled in combat, whatever Thor and his band of merry imbeciles may think, to make the mistake of gauging how his brothers fared. Once he’d used his daggers to form blades of ice encasing his forearms, Loki met Sinmara strike for strike with her flaming sword. The blades hissed and sizzled where they made contact. Loki worried that his opponent’s flame held the advantage here, and funneled more magic into his weapons. He had long since pulled the magic from Byleistr and Helblindi’s glamours, focusing instead on encasing the frost giants in cool air, once they’d entered the tunnels where they were unlikely to be seen. Finally, Loki made the same call with his own glamour, letting his true skin show through. 

He felt the discomfort of their environs more acutely, but the surge of cold his natural form produced was a comfort that was worth revealing his scrawny Jotunn hide in front of his blood kin and his fire giant opponents. Sinmara laughed when the alteration in him was complete, the sound lovely and tinkling like bells, before she surged toward him again, flaming sword in one hand and bouts of flame spurting from the other as they came together and collided. But Loki had his own tricks. While he dared not use the gems in his possession, not yet, not for something like this, he could use a strength he had rarely called on before, a strength that neither his Jotunn kin nor his fellow sorcerers possessed. The next time Sinmara feinted toward him, he shot a bolt of ice at her flaming hand, watching it spread to snuff out the flame with satisfaction. With nary a pause, he took her hand in his grip. 

He funneled the unholy Jotunn magic into his fingertips. It unfurled slowly, snuffing out the flames that danced across Sinmara’s skin, traveling to encompass the whole of her. Loki watched with interest as the glimmer of frost began to grow on her skin. The giantess looked at her flesh in horror, no longer flaming orange eyes meeting Loki’s with something akin to terror. The frost continued to grow, the fire giant shaking violently as it covered her, until the ice grew solid, then thick, imprisoning her. Loki slid the legendary sword from her grip with curiosity. Its flame had died as its master’s had, but Loki wondered what power the sword would wield in the hands of a frost giant. He turned to where his brothers still battled with Surtur, willing to find out. 

As he joined the fray, the hellacious giant shifted his gaze in search of his mate, and when he saw her, he gave a bellow of outrage and pain. Loki met him, sword to sword, and watched in some degree of awe as pale blue flame enveloped the blade in his possession. Its flame was cold, not burning, freezing whatever it came into contact with, leaving frost-bitten burns along the other giant’s skin when Loki came close to landing a hit and hissing violently when it met the flame of Surtur’s sword. Loki feinted, then cloned himself. As the giant howled in fury, he let the skin of his palm touch the flesh of its flaming back, surprised but pleased when this time, Surtur’s flames sputtered out almost instantly and the ice quickly encased him. He pulled the other sword from the giant’s grip with a flourish, bowing to his brothers. 

“The great sword Laetvateinn, as promised.” As the frost giants reached for the swords in his possession, Loki stepped back and tutted. “Ah, but I believe this is more than we bargained for. I have two legendary swords to part with, but our negotiations were only for the one.” 

Helblindi, uncharacteristically, was the brother who spluttered in outrage. Byleistr merely looked at him thoughtfully, and Loki found he was uncomfortable with the sudden degree of interest his kin had taken in him. 

“Name your price, Loptr.” Byleistr’s eyes maintained their calculating perusal, and were Loki not in such a pinch, he would say to hell with the lot of his kind and return to the golden throne of Asgard. 

“First, we shall get what I came for.” With that, Loki scanned the room carefully, locating another door on the opposite side of the cavern. He walked slowly around the molten pit, hugging the edge of the chamber, and finally came to the other side. This door, like the last, was emblazoned with runes. This time, Loki hefted Laetvateinn, summoning its natural flame, not the one his ice magic had conjured earlier, and letting it touch the central rune. The flame spread, and after some time, when the door was nearly engulfed, it swung open. 

He met the eyes of Surtur’s prisoner. “Hello, Odr.” 

The god looked at him in horror. “What have you done?” 

Loki’s gaze turned to where Brisingamen rested around the god’s neck, the Time Gem glowing orangely from the center of the torc. Loki reached out, triumphantly, and pulled his prize away from the priceless necklace. He hid it with the other gems in his possession with a wave of his hand. 

Loki smiled candidly. “I did what was necessary. Never fear, our hosts will thaw, sooner rather than later I’d imagine based upon the dreadful climate of this place, and things will return much to normal. However, you, Odr, will be returning to your wife, and that which Odin sought to hide away with you is now mine to do with as I see fit.” He turned to his brothers. “As for the price of your further reward... I shall likely have need of you and your forces at some juncture in the near future. To what lengths would you go to possess the famed swords of Surtur and his consort?” 

Byleistr’s eyes glinted with greed as they met Loki’s; Helblindi’s were full of anticipation. “You shall have our support in battle, if that is what you require. However, we will not forget the manner in which you secured this arrangement.” 

Loki bared his teeth in a farcical smile. “Then we have a deal, brothers.” A frisson of unease skittered across his spine as they took the blades from his grip. 

  


After leaving the princes of Jotunheim back in their bleak and frozen realm, Loki tugged on the threads of his magic, opening the way to the pocket dimension in which he had all but one of the Infinity Gems in his possession stored. He removed the Time Gem, the Tesseract, and the Aether. He pooled their power together, concentrating on the exact moment and the exact place he needed to be. He felt his innards lurch as the power of the stones leaped to do his bidding, and everything shifted around him. When he examined his new surroundings, the prone form of Frigga was the first thing he saw. He rushed to her side, cupping her wound with his hands. He watched as it knit shut under the glow of his magic, as some of the pallor lifted from her skin. He quickly created a replica, as convincing as possible, of her prone form, then gripped her in his arms and returned them to his present. 

Once safely in Anthony’s manor house, Loki returned the gems to their hiding place. Then, he pulled the one gem he always carried on his person from beneath his tunic and began the delicate work of siphoning his mother’s soul from the gem and back into her natural body. It seemed to take ages and was painstaking work, but when his mother took her first gasping breath, her tender blue eyes flying open to meet his, Loki felt a relief unlike any he had known before. 

“Mother.” 

He saw the way her gaze softened at the word. “Loki, my son.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the link to the beautiful art that Letzi did for this chapter: http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/133151701784/frostiron-bang-2015-a-debt-payed-by


	8. The Price of Fidelity

As Loki and Frigga entered the giant living room where Tony, Bruce, and Thor had congregated, Thor’s face blanched and he slowly stood. Tony and Bruce followed his gaze to see what had so distressed the god, and Tony felt his insides give a small flutter of relief when he spotted Loki and the regal woman standing slightly behind him. Loki had been gone for a few weeks this time, and, well. Things hadn’t been improving for Tony, that was for certain. 

The woman turned to Loki. “Loki, which of these young men is your lover?” 

Tony scoffed. As if his pale and wasting figure wasn’t a dead give away. Then, he supposed, Bruce may look a bit rough around the edges at present, also, considering he’d been tasked with the burden of Tony’s care in Loki’s absence. The Other Guy didn’t seem too big on his friends suffering mysterious illnesses, either. 

Loki drew her to Tony’s side. “Mother, this is Anthony Stark, the Man of Iron.” He gestured politely toward Bruce. “And Dr. Bruce Banner, yet another Midgardian hero, and this realm’s version of a healer.” 

As she came to stand by Tony, taking in the state of him, she tutted softly in alarm. Thor was still nearly spluttering in shock, but she turned a stern look on him. 

“Thor, I will need you to leave the room while I examine Anthony, please.” She turned back to Tony. “Would you prefer your own healer to be present for this?” 

Bruce gave a small shrug in Thor’s distressed direction and Tony nodded. “You can give Bruce the deets after it’s all said and done.” 

She nodded. “And what of Loki?” 

Tony gave a small frown and looked searchingly up at the god before looking quickly away again. “I, uhm. I think I’d prefer if he were here.” 

With the matter settled, Frigga shooed Thor and Bruce from the room, closing the door softly behind her as Loki took a seat beside of Tony on the sofa. 

“So, how exactly do you want me for this exam?” 

“If you would lie down, that would be simplest.” 

Tony stretched his legs down the length of the sofa, pillowing his head on Loki’s lap. Loki ran his fingers soothingly through Tony’s hair. Frigga came to stand over him and Tony felt a moment of panic. What if she couldn’t fix him? What if Tony really was going to kick the bucket this time? 

Frigga rucked up his shirt, looking thoughtfully at his slightly distended abdomen, before holding her hands a hairsbreadth away from his skin, pale blue magic running soothingly over and into his flesh. He watched the careful frown of concentration on her face as her eyes drifted closed, her gaze and focus shifting inward. For a great while, long enough for Tony to begin to feel that he may lose his mind waiting for the prognosis, there was no shift in her demeanor. But suddenly, her eyes flew open, her features pulled into lines of shock. 

Loki took in her rattled state with foreboding. “Mother, what is it?” 

She turned her wide eyes on Loki and Tony. “I do not know how this is possible, but your mortal, he is... he is carrying.” 

Tony’s brain stumbled blankly over the words, unable to draw any sense from them, while Loki’s features shuttered. “Er, so, sorry for being slow on the uptake here, but what? Carrying what? A tumor? Malevolent magic? I could have told you that, lady.” 

Frigga started when he spoke, flustered. “You are carrying a child, Anthony Stark.” 

Her statement left Tony with the urge to vomit, but he belligerently ignored it. “Hah, hah. Very funny. Seriously, nice joke. It would be in better taste if I weren’t, you know, dying. So for fuck’s sake, tell me what’s actually wrong with me.” At that point, Tony had sat up, and he felt a spark of rage as Loki tried to get his attention, tried to pull him back to him. 

Loki’s eyes were soft with some emotion Tony couldn’t comprehend when he finally met them. “Anthony, my mother does not jest. This is Thanos’ doing.” 

At Loki’s words, Tony crumpled in on himself, felt his heart rate and his breathing turn erratic with his blind panic. 

Frigga touched him, gently running her finger along his temple, and watched as he peacefully drifted into unconsciousness. “Loki, he is correct about one thing. His life is in very real danger. Despite his magic, he was born mortal and male. His body was never meant for such a burden.” 

Loki’s grip on Anthony’s shoulders tightened. 

Frigga turned her gaze back on her son. “And while you may be of a stature that is similar to a Midgardian’s, there is the very real possibility that your offspring may not be so.” 

Loki felt himself blanch at the implications of her statement. 

“Loki, I fear we must enlist the help of another in this matter.” 

Loki’s brow crinkled in confusion. “But who would be of use to him in this state?” 

Frigga’s eyes were guilty. “Your dam, Farbauti.” 

  


Tony came back to consciousness slowly, uneasily. When he finally opened his eyes, it was to see that the sun had begun to set through the windows of his mother’s sun-room. He thought he was alone, and in a moment of unguarded panic, wrenched up his shirt to stare in horror at the flesh of his abdomen as he remembered what had preceded his unwanted nap. As he felt the panic begin to creep in again, someone carefully cleared their throat from the corner of the room. Tony wrenched his shirt back down, flailing around to spot Frigga sitting in an armchair at the opposite end of the room. 

“Loki has gone to retrieve someone who may be able to aid us in your care, Mr. Stark.” She stood unhurriedly, walking to stand at his side by the sofa. 

“You’ll excuse me if I’m not surprised that, once again, when the shit hits the fan, Loki has conveniently managed to be elsewhere.” He watched her mouth begin to twist into a moue of displeasure, then added a bit bitingly, “Your Majesty.” It didn’t improve her expression. 

She remained silent for a moment, obviously choosing her words with care. “Mr. Stark, my son cares greatly for you. This... unusual occurrence is not through any fault of his own. I do hope you realize that.” 

Tony scoffed. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t exactly take comfort in that at the present.” Frigga’s eyes narrowed slightly and Tony didn’t have the energy to be polite, royal deity or no. “My apologies, Queen Frigga. I would like some time alone, now.” 

She nodded, eyes softening. “I am sorry to press you at present, but your physician seems quite worried, and justly so. He has been inquiring as to the state of your health since I finished my examination, though I’ve not enlightened him with the nature of your ailments as of yet. What, if any, of the truth would you like for me to impart to him?” 

Tony sighed in resignation, not yet ready to say the words himself. “Tell him whatever you want. I’m going to go on to bed.” He stood, refusing her assistance in rising, and made his way to his bedroom. 

Once alone in his room, Tony crawled into his bed, not bothering to cut on any of the lights. By the light of his arc reactor, he watched as, slowly, feeling strangely detached, he reached his hand toward the slight bulge of his abdomen. He paused, his fingers just a hairsbreadth away, glad for once that Loki wasn’t there to witness his actions. His hand shook as he forced it the final increment toward his flesh, touching. He felt the rest of his body begin to tremble as the contact was made. When he ignored the factor of his sex, now that he was touching the very real evidence of Frigga’s diagnosis, it was so damningly obvious. The flesh under his fingers was hard, just starting to grow taut. 

Tony could hear the harsh, panting gasps of his breath, but kept his hand stubbornly where it was. God, it had been what, four months since he and Loki had frenziedly come together under the influence of Thanos? Four months. Tony didn’t know much about fetal development, but he figured that he was nearly far enough along to start feeling movement. The thought made him blanch, but he found his fingers gently tracing over the slight curve of his abdomen. 

Well, he supposed he and Loki didn’t have to guess at Gamora and Garmr’s parentage anymore, though he’d certainly not expected that of the pair of them he would end up being the one to carry and birth Loki’s offspring. He felt himself grow sick as he made the realization, belatedly. Gamora and Garmr... Tony was likely carrying twins. No wonder his health was failing so quickly. If he survived to carry them to term or even to viability, it would be miraculous. He shuddered as he continued to slowly reacquaint himself with the parts of his body he had been avoiding, that he had feared all of this time. They were no less terrifying now, even if he knew the magic that was contributing to his illness was inexorably tied to his own. 

As he thought on Loki’s children, he could see it now: the hints of chestnut in the black of Gamora’s hair, the stubborn set of Garmr’s features. The mark of his genes was just as obvious as that of Loki’s, now that he knew to look for it. It brought Tony no relief. Thanos had ensured that Tony would be at his weakest and most vulnerable, unable to protect Gamora and Garmr, even without the tie of Thanos’ magic a constant and looming threat. Thanos’ magic meant that even in his weakened state, if Tony survived their birth, Loki’s children would have to be taken from him. He was the biggest threat to them; he could willingly deliver them into the arms of Thanos. 

Tony hadn’t even wanted to be a parent, had gone out of his way to avoid it, but knowing that he had already damned his children was pretty much the worst feeling he could imagine; that his pregnancy had been forced upon him, was unnatural and slowly sucking the life from him was just as ugly and unbearable to think about. It took Tony ages to fall asleep that night, hand still cradled uncertainly over the hum of new magic growing steadily inside of him. 

  


When Tony woke the next morning, it was to Bruce standing awkwardly at his bedside. He didn’t even startle, he’d gotten so used to everyone fretting over him since his new... condition... had made itself apparent. Bruce lifted his shoulders in an apologetic shrug; Tony was honestly surprised Bruce had managed to give him space for this long. His friend must have been fretting himself silly. 

Bruce shuffled his feet awkwardly. “So, uh... Frigga told me about the pregnancy last night.” Tony flinched at hearing it said aloud and Bruce winced in sympathy. “I know this has to be pretty terrifying, Tony, but I really should see if I can do an actual exam with Frigga’s help to make sure everything is normal, excepting the obvious.” 

Tony huffed out a sigh, raising himself up from the bed. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” 

Bruce nodded. “Would you rather I bring the equipment here to do it?” 

Tony nodded. “Does Point Break know yet?” 

Bruce shook his head. “I think he and Frigga have had enough to discuss outside of the present issue that she’s kept him sufficiently distracted from asking those particular questions.” 

Tony chuckled. “I’d almost be insulted, if his mom hadn’t literally just come back from the dead and if it didn’t suit me better to have as few people as possible know about this for now.” Tony settled against the headboard. 

“I’ll just be right back with the equipment and Frigga, then.” Bruce squeezed his shoulder before making his exit. 

When Bruce returned with Frigga and an ultrasound machine, Tony met the woman’s gaze unflinchingly. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” 

Bruce set up the equipment quickly and efficiently. “Frigga is going to use her magic to keep the magic of the fetus from interfering with the scan.” 

Frigga walked over to his side and extended her hand toward him. “If you would, Mr. Stark?” 

Tony extended his hand to her and gripped hers in his own. “Please, call me Tony.” 

She inclined her head in a brief nod, keeping eye contact with Tony and seeming to communicate her understanding of his less than polite behavior of the evening before. 

Tony closed his eyes as Bruce lifted his shirt and applied gel to the skin of Tony’s abdomen, wrenching them open again when he felt the wand come into contact with his stomach. Bruce had wheeled the screen near to Tony’s bedside, and Tony’s eyes locked to it like magnets. He watched as Bruce fiddled with the knobs and dials, pressing the wand more firmly to Tony’s flesh, moving it around in increments, searching. 

Tony felt his heart stutter as Bruce found what he was looking for. The fetus already was recognizable for the baby it would someday become, if Tony’s body could hold up for that long. Bruce pressed a button, and suddenly Tony could hear the rapid fire beating of its heart. Tony could feel his heart rate ratchet up a notch, his breathing speeding to match. 

After he’d had a moment to get his shit together, Bruce spoke. “The fetus looks around twenty weeks along, were I to guess, as this isn’t exactly my area of expertise.” He moved the wand a bit and gestured at the screen. “Looks like a girl.” 

Tony was grateful Bruce knew he wouldn’t want sentimental bullshit with this, that he just wanted all of the facts upfront right then and there. His eyes stayed glued to the screen. “I had a feeling it was.” 

The look Bruce and Frigga turned on him was questioning, but he gave a small shake of his head in response. He wasn’t ready to talk to anyone but Loki about Gamora and Garmr, about the future of what was growing inside of him. 

He could see Bruce gearing up to shut down the machine, now that he’d found what they’d been looking for. “You might want to keep poking around in there for a minute.” 

Bruce and Frigga both looked beyond curious, but when an answer to their unvoiced questions was not forthcoming, Bruce continued to glide the wand across his abdomen. When it came to a stop again, even Tony could see that the fetus on the screen was much different than the last, and his suspicions were reaffirmed by the look of shock on Bruce’s face. 

“Tony... there’s another fetus, but this one doesn’t even look human.” 

Tony’s eyes slid shut as he fought to keep himself from slipping back into panic. He’d known this was a possibility, even if he had avoided acknowledging it. He reopened his eyes as he heard the racing heartbeat come through over the ultrasound machine. 

“I’ll have to do research to figure out just what species the fetus is, but from what I can tell, both look healthy.” The wand readjusted. “I can’t say as I’m entirely certain, since the anatomy isn’t as distinct as on a human fetus, but I think this one is male.” 

Well, that answered that, Tony supposed. It looked like Rabid Space Bitch and Giant Motherfucking Wolf were currently availing themselves of his body’s hospitality. Thanos really had fucked them in the most twisted way possible. And yeah, Tony kind of wished Loki had been here for this part. 


	9. The Power Behind the Throne

When Loki set foot on Jotunheim, this time he did not scrape and bow before the monsters who were his brothers by blood. He appeared in a wisp of his magic right before them in their private chambers, eyes blazing furiously green with restrained power and rage. They turned on him violently in their surprise, slamming into the invisible shield he threw up with a wave of his hand. When their eyes registered that the perceived threat was him, they snarled in indignation. 

Loki snarled in return. “It seems you have not been forthcoming with me, brothers.” Loki paced nearer to them, forcing them back against the wall as his shield moved with him. “I have played to your vanity up until now; I have allowed you to think myself cowed by you. Perhaps it is time I show you who it is that is truly in power in these dealings of ours.” He watched with detached satisfaction as his brothers struggled against the bonds of his magic, their eyes blazing blood red with the force of their fury. 

As he lifted a hand, pooling his magic to flame threateningly in his palm, he felt a distinct sense of unease trail down his spine; with it, he smelled the distinctly acrid scent of teleportation. He kept his eyes on his brothers, not deigning to even turn to face this newest meddler into his affairs. He rethought this strategy when a giant paw of a hand came to grip the forearm of the hand in which he was focusing his magic. It was a deep indigo, which was little surprise, but what was surprising was the strangely familiar pattern of the markings that bisected that limb. 

Loki peered above him into a face that was ethereally beautiful, but also undeniably masculine. He was well acquainted with its shape, the fineness of its features, if not the relative smoothness of them. After all, he saw them upon himself each time he glanced into a mirror, with Laufey’s sharp edges superimposed over it all. The Jotun’s face was framed by long, flowing jet hair that reached nearly down past its waist. The swirling, writhing whirls that decorated its skin were far more similar to his than had been Laufey’s or were Byleistr or Helblindi’s, as was the lightness of its color. But when he looked up at the frost giant, for all of the similarities he saw, he was made aware of just how much he resembled the sire he had killed. His calculating eyes, the depth of their red, the jutting angles of his face and its harshness had not been inherited by Laufey’s other offspring. No, Byleistr and Helblindi, for all of their hulking bulk, their deepest indigo skin and chiseled markings, possessed all of the softness he saw in their dam’s face and eyes to temper their warlord-like appearances. 

Slowly, the grip on his arm loosened as the magic in his palm fizzled out. “Byleistr, Helblindi... leave so that your brother and I may speak.” The giant’s voice was melodic and rich, but resonated with command. 

Loki watched in fascinated disbelief as his brothers glanced between each other and their dam, then turned to leave without another word. Kings indeed. Once they had left, Farbauti moved to put some distance between them, calmly waiting him out. When he made no move to speak, finally, the giant broke its silence. 

“You know who I am, then, prince Loki?” 

Loki scoffed at the title. “Queen Frigga has seen fit to finally grace me with that knowledge.” 

Farbauti eyed him, contemplative. “I can tell you something of your origins that Frigga herself could not.” 

Loki eyed the giant before him dubiously. “Something that Frigga, with her gift of sight, and I, with that very same gift, could not have already fathomed?” 

Farbauti smiled, though it did not reach the Jotunn’s eyes. “Much like you, young Loki, I prefer to think of myself in a more masculine sense. However, I have never been at odds with those parts of myself that were not, nor have I shunned them. That I bore Byleistr and Helblindi is likely evidence enough of that fact.” The Jotun took a seat facing him, bringing himself closer to eye level with Loki. “Just because I was not opposed to the bearing of my own children does not mean that it is necessarily what I would have preferred, if given the choice. But the more fluid nature with which I expressed my gender sealed my fate early on. I was every bit as eligible to be the next king as Laufey, but I did not shear off my hair as a warrior would, freezing its roots so it would not regrow; I did not devote myself to a life of battle.” The giant’s smile was a bit self deprecating. “Jotunheim is not devoid of gender bias, no matter that we are all of the same sex. The warrior class dominates, most especially among those of bloodline such as Laufey and myself. Those who remain as I am are but a novelty, only present in our upper castes, forced to be bedded by and bred by the likes of Laufey. In the lower castes, it is much more egalitarian; warriors mate with one another, for all must do battle among their ranks, and partners switch off between offspring.” 

Loki listened, no more impressed by his people than he had been upon the start of the conversation. 

“For all that I was essentially a novelty bestowed upon Laufey, I am unlike many who have chosen to live as I do among my caste; we are all physically powerful, yes, but what advantage those with training in battle would have over me is nullified by the very same gift I passed on to you.” Farbauti raised one palm, conjuring magical flame as he had earlier stopped Loki from doing. 

Loki’s felt his breath hitch ever so slightly at the revelation of the giant’s power, but it was the only tell of his shock. 

“Laufey always feared magic such as mine; I used that fear to gain the upper hand on the first night of our mating. It is frowned upon for a king to be made to submit whether in battle or in bed, and for a king to carry would be his utter humiliation. My condition upon my union with him, for the union of Jotunheim’s two most ancient lineages, was that he let me bed him on our first night together. I knew that the knowledge that he had let me do so would grant me power I would not otherwise have had in the marriage; what I did not expect was that Laufey would become with child from that single encounter. I daresay he did not expect it, himself, as he quickly left to war with the Allfather.” Farbauti’s eyes were locked on Loki’s. “You grew in the womb of a king who would be shamed if any knew he birthed you, even were you of sound health and stature. A king who had born a dwarf would be mocked for all his reign.” 

Loki maintained his silence, his heart burning with rage. 

“It is a shame, for Laufey’s own actions condemned you to your stature. He battled with you in his womb and birthed you exceedingly early, not even bothering to inform me of your existence. He was not willing to bear the tarnish upon his name that would come from even the siring of such a runt offspring, should he claim that you were mine. And so your dam cast you out into the snow to die; it was only when I was informed that the Allfather had stolen a child from Laufey that I learned of you, the firstborn prince and heir to the throne of Jotunheim.” 

“Byleistr and Helblindi have inherited the throne.” Loki hissed the words. “I want no part of it, were it even mine as you claim it is.” 

Farbauti stood, coming to stand near him. “Loki, I know you hold no love for this place, and have no reason to. But know this: I have longed to meet you each day of your life, and whether or not you believe my words, whether or not you ever return to this realm, I am grateful to have laid eyes on you at least this once.” 

Loki looked on his sire calculatingly. “It seems that, regardless of what I would prefer, I will be forced to endure your proximity for at least some time to come. If you truly mean that which you’ve said, you will return with me to Midgard. I have a task which Frigga assures me only you may assist me with.” 

Farbauti inclined his head slowly, keeping his eyes pinned to Loki’s. “I will aid you with this task, whatever it may be. I only ask that, for your own sake, you keep the truth of who birthed you between ourselves. Let the others believe that I am your dam; it will certainly be no offense to me if you ever choose to call me so.” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “If ever that day comes, I will maintain the lie that you and Laufey have spun.” He saw a flash of ire in the giant’s eyes and felt a trill of satisfaction. 

As they left the room to bid farewell to Farbauti’s other get, his sire turned to him. “I had wanted to thank you for ridding me of my obligation to my monstrous spouse and ridding my realm of his rule...” As they turned into a chamber filled with other frost giants, Loki watched in an uncharacteristic degree of shock as the rooms’ occupants kneeled and then bowed before Farbauti one by one, including the pair of his brothers. “I think, perhaps, instead I shall thank you for giving me the means with which to begin my rule.” The smile the Jotunn turned on him was filled with mischievous intent that Loki found he could not abide on a countenance other than his own. 

Loki did his best to attempt to hide the degree to which his sire had unnerved him, watching with feigned disinterest as Farbauti parted with his other offspring, the puppet kings of Jotunheim. As they departed for Midgard, Loki wondered just how wise was this idea of Frigga’s. For all of his fascination and consternation with his newly discovered parent, however, it was not long before Loki’s thoughts were drawn back to Anthony and the revelations that Frigga had made before his departure. His mind had been whirling over the implications since he’d left Midgard, and it was with a sinking feeling in his gut that Loki found himself arriving back at Anthony's manor, wayward king of Jotunheim and additional familial drama in tow. 

  


When they arrived just inside of the doors of Anthony’s manor home, Loki turned to face the other Jotunn, narrowing his eyes. “Let it be clear that I do not trust you. Were it not for Frigga’s insistence and the dire nature of the situation, I would not have sought you out at all. If you should prove my mistrust correct in any sense, Byleistr and Helblindi shall truly become the kings of Jotunheim, without you to pull their strings from the shadows.” 

His sire inclined his head, eyes narrowed in disapproval, and Loki led the way up the stairs and to the door of Anthony’s chamber. Once there, Loki paused. 

“I would ask that you remain here until I request your presence.” With that, Loki turned and entered the room, careful to not let his guest catch a glimpse of its contents. Once sealed in the chamber, he quickly spotted Frigga at Anthony’s bedside, where his lover slept seemingly peacefully. 

“I have retrieved Farbauti; he is waiting just outside. How is Anthony, Mother? Has his condition worsened since I left?” 

Frigga came around the bed to grip his hand in hers. “He is stable for the moment, Loki, and certainly no worse than when you left. I do not know how long that would have remained true, however, had you not successfully garnered Farbauti’s assistance.” 

Loki squeezed her hand gently, slipping around the bed to Anthony’s side. She followed discreetly behind him. 

“I do have more news to impart, my son. Your Midgardian is carrying twins; it would appear there is one of each sex, though the male is not... as we would have expected.” 

Loki’s eyes slid shut at Frigga’s confirmation of his fears. “You mean that the male is not a boy, but a beast.” 

Frigga’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I thought your mortal had seemed curiously calm about the entire matter. What aren’t you telling me, Loki? I am unused to another knowing more about such happenings than I, but now that my sight has been passed on to you, I suspect I must needs grow accustomed to it.” 

Loki indulged in a small sigh. “The boy, he is the guardian of Hel. Garmr. The girl is called Gamora; she is a servant of the Mad Titan. It is he whom Anthony and I have to thank for our current situation, for I accidentally bestowed some of his magic upon Anthony when I attempted to subjugate Midgard.” 

Frigga grew pale at the mention of Thanos, her face growing more wane as he continued to speak. She opened her mouth to speak, but Loki shook his head. 

“Now is not the time for that discussion, Mother. Know only that he is coming; his threat looms in our near future, and Anthony has been made a puppet to his whims.” Loki reached out a hesitant hand, stroking the hair back from Anthony’s brow. “Now we must concentrate on seeing him better.” 

Frigga’s mouth thinned into a firm line. “Of course. Shall I fetch Farbauti, then?” 

Loki hmmed. “If you think we can afford it, I would like a moment alone with Anthony first, before he is to be introduced to the mountain I have brought home, currently cowering under our ceilings.” 

Frigga huffed a laugh despite herself. “I shall just join him in the hall, then, shall I?” 

Loki nodded, then added with malicious glee, “But do not say a word of what we have called him here to do. I would rather let him stew for a bit.” 

Frigga tutted, but as she left, Loki was confident she would heed his request. The thought filled him with some small bit of mirth, in spite of the gravity of the situation. 

  


Tony wrestled his way back to consciousness slowly, something cool tracing ticklishly over his neck. He swatted at it, startling into full wakefulness as the gentle touch turned suddenly downright frosty. He leaped away from it with a yelp, sitting upright and scowling when he found Loki observing him, obvious mirth in his eyes. 

As the god searched his face, his expression turned serious, and the reality of his current situation came trickling back over Tony. His face must have given away his distress, as suddenly Loki’s hand had cupped the back of his head and the god was kissing him with a gentleness that Tony was unused to. When he pulled away, Tony fidgeted. It all felt a lot like avoiding the elephant in the room, so Tony decided to treat his current predicament like a band-aid and rip it off quickly. He threw back the bedclothes, then rucked up his shirt to expose the slightly sloped flesh of his abdomen. 

Loki’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before he quite managed to hide the reaction, and the god reached a hand toward him hesitantly. Tony shrugged, and when Loki was slow to respond, yanked the Jotunn’s hand to his stomach. Loki was still for a moment after he released it, then spread his fingers over the skin of his belly, face rife with a curiosity that was not entirely reluctant. 

Tony huffed a sigh. “I imagine they’ll be pummeling my innards soon enough, what with the limited space.” 

Loki’s eyes returned to him, even as his fingers stay splayed over that place where Tony’s body was curiously no longer his own, seemingly without conscious intention. 

“I have brought one of my ilk to help with your care at Mother’s recommendation. It is probably best that they examine you soon, as they know far more about Jotunn physiology and magic than Mother or I.” 

Tony brought his hand back up to cover Loki’s, lacing their fingers with a sigh. “Might as well get the poking and prodding over with, I suppose.” He huffed a put upon sigh. “No disappearing for at least a few days this time, alright Lokes?” 

Loki rolled his eyes indulgently at the pet name. “I will remain for as long as I am able, Stark.” Loki sighed, glancing at the door. “I suppose we should summon Banner, as well, so that he, Mother, and the Jotunn may all confer at once.” 

Tony nodded reluctantly, then turned his attention to the tablet lying near to him on the bed, quickly shooting off a message to be sent to Bruce. Loki’s hand remained absentmindedly spread over his abdomen as the god curled in close to his side, uncharacteristically affectionate, as they waited for Bruce to arrive. It made a curious curl of some undefinable emotion unfurl inside of Tony, powerful and strange. It left him feeling both bitter and yearning. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Tony didn’t have much time to ponder the sensation, as Bruce soon knocked on the door. 

Loki shuffled slightly away from him, but remained surprisingly nearby, seated on the bed. He glanced once more at Tony before facing the door. “You may enter.” 

Banner entered the room first, looking slightly discomfited, but not abnormally so for the good doctor. Frigga entered on his heels, and as Tony watched, a figure of more Hulk-like proportions bent to come through the doorway. As the giant straightened more fully, and Frigga subtly shut the door behind him, Tony barely restrained a gasp when he got his first clear glimpse of its face. He turned to Loki, expression full of barely restrained query. 

Loki stayed resolutely at his side, any discomfort that his forthright demonstration of his affections may have caused him carefully masked. His gaze met Tony’s, then locked with the giant’s own. “Anthony, this is the Jotunn who bore me: Farbauti, king of Jotunheim.” 

Tony noted a faint expression of surprise from Frigga, and increasing discomfort on Bruce’s part. And maybe it was cruel of him, but he was really glad that Thor was thus far respecting the sanctity of his sickbed enough to have not come to investigate, because Tony so did not need the extra degree of familial drama that would bring. 

Loki’s gaze returned to Tony. “Farbauti, this is Anthony Stark of Midgard, also known as the Midgardian hero, the Man of Iron.” Loki’s expression became even more carefully vague as he faced the giant once more. “Mother and Dr. Banner have been overseeing his care, but Mother felt that we needed the input of a Jotunn practiced in the healing arts for this matter.” 

Farbauti’s eyes had narrowed thoughtfully. “Of what use will Jotunn healing be to a Migardian that Queen Frigga’s knowledge of Asgardian and Vanir healing would not?” 

Loki’s jaw stiffened, ever so slightly, though Tony imagined he and Frigga were likely the only ones to notice his discomfiture. 

“Mother suggested you because we know little of Jotunn physiology, and the children that Anthony carry are half Jotunn. Thus far our methods have proven less than reliable when it comes to his care.” 

Farbauti’s eyes widened, his jaw going slack, before he regained control of his composure and schooled his face to an expression that was more akin to Loki’s. “This is most unusual, indeed.” 

Loki arched a brow. “Quite,” he offered, sardonically. 

Farbauti waved off his reaction. “I imagine my definition of the word is a good deal different from yours, in a circumstance such as this.” He came to stand nearer to the bed, taking in the frail state of Tony’s health. “Procreation between Jotnar and the other species that inhabit the Nine Realms is not unheard of. We’re a warring race, and in our history have often attempted the conquer or habitation of other realms. We’ve... rather adapted to those circumstances. Our genetic material is capable of altering that of a partner of another species enough for conception to occur, and for the resulting pregnancy to be viable. However, the Jotunn in the coupling usually carries, or at least sires upon a female of another species. I’ve never encountered tale of an instance of a male of another species altering enough to conceive and carry offspring.” 

“I assure you, our present circumstances were quite unintended.” Loki’s voice was arch. “Our main concern is that of Anthony’s health, as obviously, despite conception having occurred, and the viability of the pregnancy, his body is not designed for such a task and suffers greatly for it.” 

“Prior to my arrival, the fetuses’ magic interfered to a degree that the source of his ails could not be identified. With my assistance, we were obviously able to solve that particular mystery, but I worry greatly. His physiology is not altered enough to sustain the pregnancy to term, nor to allow his body to abort if the strain becomes too great. The fetuses are already developing powerful magic, and it reacts quite negatively to any threat or interference.” 

Farbauti hmmed thoughtfully. “Would it be possible for me to conduct my own examination of him?” 

Frigga and Bruce turned to Tony expectantly. Loki gave a stiff nod, looking distinctly less than pleased about the situation. 

“Alright. Examine away, I suppose. Though... how invasive an examination will this be? Because I’d really rather not have everyone in here with me in my skivvies if it’s all the same.” 

The Jotunn chucked, giving what looked to be a genuine smile at Tony. “I may conduct the examination with my magic; you shall remained clothed for it.” 

Tony nodded, relieved, and steeled himself as the towering Jotunn king made his way to his side. Farbauti kneeled beside of him, bringing him much closer to Tony’s level, making eye contact with Tony as he raised his gargantuan hands to hover over Tony’s abdomen. The red of his eyes was deep and familiar, and Tony felt himself begin to relax, despite his better judgment. The Jotunn’s gaze soon shifted to his hands, where Tony could see the subtle glow of his burgundy magic enveloping him. It traveled from where the giant’s hands hovered to slowly encompass the rest of Tony’s body. The Jotunn remained silent, fixed and unmoving, for what seemed a small eternity to Tony, who was wrapped in the foreign but familiar sensation of his magic. Eventually, Farbauti’s magic began to dissipate, and the giant pulled his hands away from Tony before meeting his eyes once more. 

“So, it’s twins you carry. That is not altogether unusual for a Jotunn pregnancy; my younger sons, Byleistr and Hellblindi, are twins. It is also not so unusual that one of the babes you carry is a shapeshifter. While magic is not altogether common among my species, it does occur occasionally, as evidenced by myself and your lover. However, the concerns of Frigga and Dr. Banner are well reasoned; Jotnar magic is not meant to be used to convert a male body for these purposes.” The Jotunn frowned, his expression thoughtful. “When were you last intimate?” The question was directed at both Tony and Loki. 

Tony spluttered, caught off guard, and could see that Frigga and Bruce looked at least as discomfited as him. Loki, however, looked displeased in that homicidal way that Tony was so not a fan of. Tony hurried to respond, not courageous enough to make eye contact with anyone in the room as he did so. 

“When they were conceived.” He barely managed to force the words out. 

When he dared to face the Jotunn again, Farbauti was frowning. He tutted softly, then shook his head. “This is why it is of importance to learn of one’s own heritage.” His gaze cut meaningfully to Frigga before he continued. “Perhaps I did not make this clear enough when I spoke of it earlier; partners of Jotnar are able to sire, or to conceive and carry, Jotunn young only by the exchange of their genetic material. Close and sustained intimacy is required for the carrier to maintain their health and the health of their half-blooded offspring, especially if the carrier is the non-Jotunn parent. Otherwise the carrier’s body may react unpleasantly to the foreign DNA present in the fetus, and the physiological changes necessary for them to carry young that are partially of another species will not continue to progress.” He looked pointedly at Tony and Loki. “I imagine this will only be all the more crucial since your Midgardian’s body has to alter in a much more dramatic fashion to survive his pregnancy.” 

Loki’s face was paler than usual when he spoke. “But his health has been so frail...” 

Farbauti’s eyes narrowed. “No doubt it would be less so had you sustained close contact with him for the four months that the pregnancy has already progressed.” Farbauti’s gaze softened slightly, as did his tone. “Not that it will solve this dilemma in its entirety, by any means, but it will at least improve the state of his health for the time being, and likely advance his physiological changes so the danger to him is no longer as great as it is at present.” 

Tony, attempting to ignore the fact that they were discussing his sex life for the time being, worked up the nerve to speak. “What exactly do you mean by advance my physiological changes?” 

Farbauti looked at him in concern. “Your body will become more Jotunn-like in certain aspects. Considering you have already developed the internal structures necessary for a pregnancy to occur, I am hopeful your body will develop the other required components to see it through to its culmination.” 

Tony blanched at the implications. “You mean...” 

“You already are no longer fully male, though this is not yet reflected by your external accouterments. If you are to survive carrying your offspring, we can only hope that this will soon change, and that you will be like the Jotnar in that you will possess all that is necessary to both birth and sire young.” 

Tony blanched. 

“Do not look so shocked. Surely some part of you knew this was to be expected? When I examined you, my magic detected that this process was already underway, albeit extremely slowly.” Farbauti reached out, hesitantly, cupping his large hand around Tony’s shoulder. “I understand that such a change must be distressing, but if you view Loki and I the same, knowing of the sex of our species, you should view yourself as no less, either.” The Jotunn stood. “I doubt, however, that the changes your body will undergo will be enough to ensure your survival. Your magic will be strained by altering your physiology, sustaining the pregnancy, and by the fetuses’ developing magic. Frigga, myself, and Loki will likely need to supplement your magic with our own. We should work toward finding a more reliable and permanent solution to this problem, however.” He looked to Frigga and Bruce. “For now, I believe we should leave you two to discuss what bit of enlightenment I was able to provide you.” Farbauti turned to leave the room. 

But of course, Tony wasn’t going to be that lucky. Before the frost giant could reach the door, it was wrenched open from outside, and Thor made his inevitable appearance at what was perhaps the worst possible moment. 

“Mother, Loki, I have been kept in the dark for long enough. Whatever your reasons for keeping me at bay, Stark is my friend as well. I deserve to know whether he is to live or die...” Thor’s words trailed off as he took in the scene before him, his eyes widening. 

“Why is there a Jotunn in Stark’s chambers? Mother, Loki, what in Valhalla is...” As Thor took in Farbauti’s features, his own drew into a much more pronounced expression of shock. “By the Nine... but it couldn’t be?” 

Loki sighed, rubbing a weary hand across his face. “It can and it is, Thor.” 

Frigga looked sternly upon her son, though Tony could see the sympathy in her eyes. “Thor, surely I have taught you to act with more decorum when in the presence of the royalty of other realms.” 

Thor’s face blanched even further, though he sketched a facsimile of a bow toward Farbauti. 

“Farbauti, allow me to introduce my eldest son, Thor. Thor, King Farbauti has come to aid us with Mr. Stark’s care. I trust you will be able to treat him with the respect due his station, and his relationship to your brother.” 

Thor’s eyes were suspicious and his voice hollow when he responded. “Of course, Mother. My apologies, Farbauti-King.” 

Farbauti inclined his head, and Tony noticed a hint of mischief in the way his eyes crinkled ever so slightly, so uncannily like his eldest child. 

“I expect you have much to discuss with your son, Allmother. I shall occupy myself elsewhere so that you may do so in privacy. Dr. Banner, if you could show me to my accommodations for my stay?” Bruce hurried to the giant’s side, wincing slightly as he cast a glance at Thor on their way out. 

Thor looked beyond worried when the doors closed and he was sealed in the room with just his mother, brother, and Tony. Tony felt a pang of guilt for being the cause of it. He hated having kept Thor in the dark, despite his decision to trust in Tony and Loki for the time being, but Tony just wasn’t ready to face the reality of his current predicament, at least not anymore than was absolutely necessary. It was already mortifying enough for so many people to know. He’d just wanted more time before his secret had to be revealed to anyone else. He sighed in defeat. 

“Why do you need Loki’s dam to assist in caring for Tony?” 

Loki turned probing eyes in Tony’s direction, and Tony steeled himself for Thor’s reaction. He took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes closed. “Because, Thor... none of us know how to care for a Jotunn pregnancy.” When Tony dared to open his eyes again, Thor looked puzzled. His eyes cut in Loki’s direction. 

“Brother, you’re carrying?” Thor’s voice was choked, whether with emotion or shock, Tony couldn’t tell. 

And yeah, Tony could see where he’d drawn that conclusion, from the ambiguity of his proclamation. He huffed in exasperation. “No, Thor. Loki isn’t carrying, or whatever you lot want to call it.” He hissed the words with unintended venom, shifting his eyes away from Thor again, not wanting to see his expression the moment he cottoned onto what Tony still couldn’t bring himself to tell his brother in arms outright. 

When he finally turned to face Thor again, Thor’s face was drawn into lines of shock, yes, but also of worry. “But you are mortal, Stark. How is this possible?” 

Tony tapped his finger on the housing of his arc reactor, not able to look into Thor’s genuinely fearful expression any longer. “Apparently not as human as I once was, for various reasons. Your brother’s crazy space genes helped things along a bit, but it was Thanos who orchestrated this.” 

Thor’s pallor made him look positively ghostly when Tony dared to look up again. “Their magic protects them, no matter how they might endanger me. So, Farbauti, Frigga, and Loki are trying to figure out how to keep me alive long enough for them to be born, and how to keep me from dying when they are.” Tony fidgeted with the comforter. “Which, is really for nothing, because Thanos intends to take them. He’s already enslaved them, in other realities. With the control he has over me, he could force me to serve them up to him on a platter.” 

Loki’s fingers twined through his, squeezing harshly, and when Tony turned to face him, his expression was fierce, though Tony had no idea what it was trying to convey to him. 

He turned back to Thor. “I’m sorry, Thor. I didn’t mean to leave you in the dark. I’m just not up to dealing with... all of this... just yet.” 

Thor inclined his head to Tony, his eyes full of a sympathy that was painful for him to look at. “I am sorry for pressing the matter, Tony. Mother and I will leave you and Loki in peace, now. Please let me know if there is anything I may do to be of assistance to you.” 

Tony gave a frail imitation of a smile. “Thanks, big guy.” His eyes darted to where Loki’s fingers still twined, surprisingly, with his own. “By the way... if this all doesn’t go to shit... well, they’re twins. You’ll have a niece and a nephew.” 

Thor turned a wan smile toward him. “Considering their parentage, they’ll no doubt be fierce heirs to Asgard.” He cast a meaningful glance toward Loki. “And to Jotunheim.” 

Frigga leaned over the bed, kissing Loki on the forehead, then turning to do the same to Tony. “I shall be nearby should you have need of me, my sons.” With that, she turned and followed Thor from the room, closing the door gently behind her. 

Tony’s heart had given a treacherous leap, though he could not tell whether it was more in hope or fear, at her inclusion of him to her family. When he turned to Loki, he looked less discomfited than thoughtful. When he noticed Tony’s curious perusal, he unlaced their fingers, expression schooling itself along more neutral lines. 

“Well, this has certainly been... enlightening.” At least he sounded about as sincere in that statement as Tony felt about it. 

Tony rolled his eyes in response. “If it’s all the same to you, I know we’re probably supposed to be making with the hanky panky right about now, but I find myself distinctly not aroused by present circumstances.” 

Loki’s lips curved in mirth. “I concur.” 

Tony felt his own mouth curve into a more sincere smile. “Honestly, I could go for a lot of denial and a little bit of a nap right now.” 

Loki hmmed noncommittally. “I suppose I could do with some rest, myself, considering my recent excursions. As for the denial bit... well. You might be onto something of an idea, there, as well, Stark. I suppose you may yet prove to be a genius, for your species.” 

Tony felt a chuckle rumble through his chest, surprised that he was still able to laugh after the morass of less than pleasant emotions he’d been put through thus far today. “Careful, Lokes. You came suspiciously close to complimenting me just then.” 

The smile that tilted Loki’s lips now was fond. “Do shut up, Stark. I thought we’d agreed upon ‘napping’ as you call it.” 

Tony shoved Loki playfully, curling into the god’s side as they lay down. He felt Loki’s arms curl snugly around his shoulders and burrowed his face into the god’s neck. His nearly perpetual exhaustion pulled him under quickly, and he was asleep within seconds. 

  


Loki lay awake for some time before his mind settled enough for him to join Anthony in slumber, some foreign part of him aching for how frail the man in his arms now seemed to be compared to his formerly vibrant and boundless lover. 


	10. Daddy Issues

Tony slowly drifted into wakefulness, not entirely certain what had roused him. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he grew distinctly uneasy, feeling certain that someone was nearby, watching him. Loki slept on beside of him, the room now in full darkness save for Tony’s arc reactor, covered by the material of Tony’s pajamas and the thick comforter that was wrapped around him. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he barely refrained from gasping and giving himself away. He did his best to keep his eyelids shuttered so they would appear closed, controlling his breathing. 

There, standing over the edge of his bed, was Gamora. This time she wore her natural teal skin and golden eyes, her body that of a child. The expression on her face as she looked upon him and Loki was almost tender, but there was something unhinged and violent in her eyes. Tony gave up pretending any longer, but remained entirely still as he opened his eyes and spoke. 

“Gamora.” He felt Loki shift, beginning to wake in his arms, and squeezed the shoulder his arm was wrapped around gently, signaling him to be still. 

“Hello, father. Or would you prefer I call you Dad? No? Daddy? Papa? Remarkable, how easily one forgets such trivial details.” 

Tony could tell Loki was fully awake now, tense and poised to strike. He kept his grip on Loki’s shoulder, keeping him stilled. 

“You can call me any of them that you prefer, if you choose to call me any of those titles at all. It doesn’t seem like I got to stick around to do much parenting, and Fader was Loki’s shtick, wasn’t it?” 

The girl smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant sight. It was sharp and twisted, reminiscent of the expressions he had seen on Loki’s face around the time of the attack on New York. 

“Why are you here, Gamora? I doubt Thanos sent you to kill me, since he’s using me for something else at the moment, not to mention that the something else seems to be well on its way to putting me in an early grave, anyway.” 

Despite his bravado, Tony felt something cold and fearful uncurl in his gut, and he was glad that the warmth of Loki’s body shielded his abdomen and the fragile cargo it carried. He might not have been sure how he felt about that cargo yet, but his every instinct knew he didn’t want this version of Gamora anywhere near that vulnerable part of himself, his and Loki’s daughter or no. 

“You’re right, father. Thanos has sent me to bear a gift to you. Hopefully it will improve upon the frail state of your health that you’ve been so bemoaning.” 

The smugness of her expression was something he was all too familiar with, but this time, it was not Loki he saw in the expression. Her face was etched in a near mirror image of the cocky smirk he’d used countless times to infuriate countless people. It was pure Stark showmanship. 

“Fader, I know you are awake; trust me when I say you will want to see this.” 

With that, before he or Loki could move, she pulled something from the ether around her, bringing herself even nearer to Tony’s side through teleportation and wrapping his fingers around it as she crushed it. The air began to condense around it, forming vapor which swirled to encompass Tony as he leapt away from Gamora. Loki had flung himself toward her, putting himself between her and Tony, but as Gamora cackled ominously and disappeared, Tony knew she had only been serving to distract Loki. He watched with horror as stone began creeping to encase him. 

Loki ran to him, his eyes widening with horror. Tony extended his arm, reaching for him. Loki’s hand made contact with his, their fingers just barely brushing, as he rushed to Tony’s side; it was like some twisted facsimile of the Creation of Adam, man and god reaching for each other, arms outstretched and fingers touching. Tony had a breath, a heartbeat, to feel desperation well inside of him as he saw an unfamiliar depth of emotion reflected in Loki’s eyes, and then the stone had completely engulfed him, and everything was dark and desolate, silent. 

  


Loki shrieked with rage as he watched the last of the stone close around Anthony. He had known when he had woken that he should have immediately separated the witch from Anthony, gotten her as far away from him as possible. But he was overly cautious, too protective of the weakened mortal, of the man carrying his offspring, to risk drawing her attention to him before he was certain he could remove her safely. But then she had taken him, taken them both, by surprise. 

Loki reached out with his magic, extending his senses to search for any sign of life within the stone figure of his lover before him. He did not turn to face the door when Frigga, Farbauti, Banner, and Thor burst through it. He lowered his hands in defeat as at last he acknowledged the inevitable: he could sense nothing from the dense material that had completely absorbed the mortal. He distantly registered hearing his mother gasp, but none dared to come closer once they had entered the room. 

Finally, his mother spoke. “Loki, what happened here?” 

He did not turn away from the haunted expression of Anthony’s frozen face before him. “Thanos sent Gamora to us. She brought with her a crystal of some sort. When she crushed it and it made contact with him, the mist began to take form and harden around him, engulfing him.” 

He felt Farbauti’s looming presence draw closer. “I am not certain, but I may know what has befallen your Midgardian, Loki.” 

Loki could hear the barely restrained rage, the crackle of raw power and magic in his voice when he spoke. “Pray tell, then, dearest dam of mine.” 

It was telling that no one dared confront him for his caustic words. 

“I cannot be certain, but both the Celestials and the Kree engineered certain... experiments... on Midgardians, ages ago even by Asgardian or Jotunn standards. Those humans could be... altered... by exposure to a certain chemical compound. Those who had been part of the Kree’s experiments were merely cocooned in the substance as it hardened around them, and underwent a metamorphosis, while those who were purely human were consumed by it and eventually crumbled, like ash.” 

Farbauti extended a hand toward Anthony’s frozen figure and Loki snarled. “No one will touch him.” 

Farbauti nodded, backing away from the pair. “The longer he remains thus, the more likely it is that he has survived. It is impossible to judge whether or not he may have had any dormant genetic material from the Kree’s experiments. However, if you would like to save yourself the agony of waiting... I suggest you try touching him. If his form does not crumble from the contact, there is likely hope.” 

Loki nodded stiffly as his sire left the room, Thor and Banner hesitating, then trailing behind him. Loki was left alone with Frigga. Intelligently, his mother said nothing, but came to stand by his side, wrapping an arm around him. 

“I doubt that Thanos would purposefully undo all the other work he has done thus far to cause upheaval in your and Anthony’s lives,” she ventured after a lengthy silence. 

Loki snorted, gracelessly. “Even Thanos is fallible, Mother. And he ever did revel in letting us know it would be his choice, how and when Anthony died, and that he would leave us in an agony of doubt waiting for it. I can think of no crueler way to have dealt the blow, leaving us in doubt as to whether or not he still survives, and our offspring with him, and leaving it to me to decide when this last visage of him will crumble and we will discover the truth.” 

Frigga squeezed his arm, gently. “I shall stay with you, unless you would like to stand vigil alone?” Her voice was tentative, and Loki hated that he’d given her cause to doubt herself so much with regards to him, but he had no patience to mend that bridge at present. 

“I believe I should like to wait alone, Mother.” He threaded his fingers through hers, squeezing in reassurance. “There is no sense in more than one of us losing sleep, and I doubt it shall return to me this night.” 

He refused to acknowledge the painful sympathy in her expression as she left him alone in the room. Once she’d closed the door, he snarled in frustration at his impotence. Hours passed as he remained, glaring at the figure before him as he paced in agitation about the room. Finally, as dawn began to break, he paused once more, facing the still form of his lover. He reached out a hand, uncharacteristically haltingly, then finally brought his fingers into contact with Anthony’s cheek. The surface was rough and hard. He could not bring himself to truly test the strength of it, pressing gently and then pulling away. Though Anthony’s form did not crumble, he took little hope in the small success. 

  


Three days and nights passed in much the same manner, as Loki waited with all of the patience of a jungle cat, poised and waiting to strike whatsoever crossed its path. Frigga came at intervals, but sensing the state of his mood, never stayed for more than a moment to assure herself that all was as well as could be expected. For a god, the lack of sustenance and sleep was of little concern, though Loki could feel the pulsing crackle of vengeful magic just beneath his skin. 

So encompassed was he in the morass of his loathing for Thanos and the ferocity of his pacing, it took him a moment to register the distinct sound of something cracking in the room, akin to the sound of breaking ice. He whirled violently toward Anthony’s prone form, searching it for any sign of change, searching to see if finally, the figure before him would crumble away in its entirety, leaving nothing but rubble in its wake. 

As he watched the first bit of stone fall away, he felt certain that what would follow would be pieces of Anthony, and not of some shell surrounding him; that there was nothing of Anthony left but the debris that would fall. As more of it fell away, and no flesh was yet revealed, his eyelids slid closed and he released a hiss of breath that sounded pained. He forced his eyes open again, determined to see this through, to watch if this was to be Anthony’s end. 

As he did, his eyes settled on something that his brain could not seem to grasp, something out of place. The stone of the hand outstretched toward him had fallen away. What his eyes were seeing... it was flesh. His expression drew into lines of shock as the dense layer the crystal had formed around Anthony crumbled away. He heard someone gasping for breath and saw Anthony’s now mostly uncovered form lurching forward and rushed to meet it, catching him and hauling him against his chest, into his arms, as he carefully carried him to the bed. 

His eyes roved over Anthony’s face, assessing, and slowly, the mortal’s eyes seemed to focus, to register what they were seeing, and rest on him in return. Initially panicked, he listened as Anthony’s breath calmed and evened, stroking his fingers across the man’s cheek. 

“Water,” he gasped, coughing as he spoke. 

Loki quickly summoned a glass and filled it with his magic, supporting Anthony’s body as he carefully pulled him upright. The mortal fairly guzzled the liquid, nearly choking, and Loki carefully rationed how quickly he let the man drank. When the glass was empty, he set it aside, and pulled Anthony against him, wrapping him in his arms. 

“Stark, are you alright?” 

The mortal had nestled his head into the crook of Loki’s neck and his voice was muffled when he responded. 

“I think so... I... Loki, what happened?” 

“Gamora, she used some manner of crystal to... alter you in some way. Apparently it’s some sort of holdover from a Kree occupation of your realm in the distant past. We’re not certain what effects it may have had.” 

Tony groaned. “Great, more alien hoodoo. Just what we needed.” 

Loki huffed. “I trust you’re not including me in your bemoaning of so-called alien ‘hoodoo?’” 

The mortal grunted, not bothering to move his face away from Loki’s neck. “I’m definitely including you. Just because you didn’t know your sperm could do alien hoodoo does not negate the fact that it did.” 

Loki rolled his eyes in token annoyance, but was secretly relieved. “At least you did not die, Stark, for that was the other option.” 

He felt a small shudder run through the other man, noticed how he unwittingly curled around his abdomen, and Loki felt a peculiar lurch of his pulse. He curled his arms more tightly around the mortal, daring to stroke one hand down his flank, precariously close to what he subconsciously shielded. He felt Anthony slowly calm, relaxing against him. 

“Not going to lie, Lokes. That would have sucked.” 

Loki hmmed in agreement. “I need to summon Mother, Banner, and Farbauti. They’ll need to examine you to make certain you are unharmed.” He shushed Anthony as the mortal made a token complaint. “Then I shall make certain some sustenance is brought for you. After three days, you must be famished. The last thing you need is to lose any more of your strength.” 

  


Loki observed as Anthony bore the poking and prodding of his circle of healers with uncharacteristic grace. Once they had ascertained that nothing new was discernibly amiss, Loki ushered them from the chamber, reluctantly leaving Anthony’s side. He knew from the pinched expression around his mother’s eyes that there was something of note that they had been reluctant to voice in Anthony’s company. Once the door had latched, he turned to face them, raising an expectant brow. 

“Well, out with it, then. What is it that you did not wish to say in front of Anthony?” 

Bruce looked at a loss, but then, Loki imagined that was to be expected, for the good doctor had even less knowledge of what had befallen the mortal than Loki himself. Farbauti and Frigga’s shifting glances looked guilt ridden, however. 

Surprisingly, it was Farbauti who spoke first. 

“While we could find nothing altered about your mortal in our examination, I cannot emphasize how unlikely it is that he came out of this process unchanged. The entire purpose it was engineered for was to enhance humans in some manner or other, to make them a force that the Kree could use, pawns in their battles. No Midgardian that survives terrigenesis comes out of the process entirely human, Loki.” 

Loki narrowed his eyes. “I had expected as much.” 

It was Frigga who addressed him now. 

“Loki, we will have to keep a close eye on him. Since he is not visibly altered, I can only imagine that he has attained new... powers... which we have no way of fathoming. He could cause untold damage to himself or to others if left unchecked.” 

Loki repressed a sigh. “Perhaps it is best we allow him to recover, before we address him with such concerns.” 

The others inclined their heads in agreement. 

“Just do not wait too long, my son. It would be best that neither he nor us are taken by surprise when his new abilities manifest themselves.” 

“Believe me, Mother, on this matter we are in complete agreement.” Loki turned, reentering Anthony’s bedchamber. 

  


Tony stirred as he felt Loki slip into bed beside of him. In truth, he had not yet been able to drift off to sleep. His head felt fuzzy and strange. As Loki settled in beside of him, the discomfiting thrum he could feel resonating in his mind increased. Loki curled along Tony’s back, wrapping an arm around his waist in a way that had been been all too familiar just a few months before, and now was foreign and startling. He felt Loki stiffen slightly behind him as his hand came into contact with the slight curve of Tony’s belly. The god remained tense, hesitating and unsure for a few moments, before relaxing back into the contact, hand splaying more securely over the warm skin beneath Tony’s shirt. 

As Loki drifted off, Tony felt that infuriating steady hum inside of his head dissipate, but not die completely, and discovered something. That... buzzing... whatever the sensation was... it wasn’t just from one source. He began to pick out multiple threads of humming energy, and as he felt the steady thrum of Loki’s heart against his shoulder blade, he made the startling realization that one of those threads pulsed in time with the rhythm of Loki’s heart. Though it was faint, he began to suspect that the stronger thrum that had died off as Loki went to sleep was yet another that stemmed from the god, from the gentler firing of the synapses of his unconscious mind. 

As Tony directed this new-found perception to the other threads of soundless sensation prickling at his brain, he found it almost laughably easy to pick out the beating of his own heart, the thread of energy of his own restless mind. What was surprising, however, was the more gentle sensation that remained, tickling at the edges of his senses. He brought a hand up to cover Loki’s on his belly in shock; as he turned his focus inward, he realized that the fainter hum of energy he could sense came from twin heartbeats, twin nervous systems, faint yet strong, separate from his own yet within his own body. 

Tony had known that Loki, Frigga, Farbauti, and Bruce had convened for their own little chit-chat about his recent brush with death via Thanos; he’d known that there was something they were keeping from him by the pinched looks on their faces as they hovered about his bed. He’d been willing to overlook it, earlier, too emotionally and physically drained from the experience to care. Now, he supposed, he needn’t ask what they’d been discussing. He wasn’t certain what this new sense of his meant, what strange abilities it might entail. But he knew that Thanos had succeeded in what he’d sought out to do. Thanos had granted Tony some mysterious new power. Thanos was turning Tony into a weapon. 

He curled his fingers more firmly against his abdomen. God, the entire situation was just still so fucking unbelievable. It was terrifying, really, and disturbing, and a million other negative emotions that Tony didn’t have the energy to name. But feeling the faint thrum of humming bird quick heartbeats and fragile neurons firing inside of the protective confines of his own flesh, it suddenly felt real in a way that even with all of the sickness, all of the terror upon discovering the source of it, it never had before. They were real and alive and inside of him, and he still had no idea how to feel about that other than terrified. But for the first time, he felt another conscious emotion toward these new tenants that had taken up residence in his body. He felt protective, and it only made him all the more afraid. 

  


When Tony woke the next morning, he was alone. Through his magic, he could feel the pulse of Loki’s power nearby, and through his new strange awareness, he could feel the spark and fire of his conscious mind at work, of his heart’s steady beating. He could sense the hum of someone else’ energy nearby, and when he opened his eyes, it was to see Frigga carrying a tray bearing toast, jam, and water toward his bedside table. As she saw that he was awake and he maneuvered himself upright, she smiled, setting the tray down over his lap. 

“I have to say, I’m getting a bit spoiled with all of you about to wait on me hand and foot.” 

She tutted, her mouth curving in spite of herself. 

“It is important that you not strain yourself, especially with how much your health deteriorated before we were able to come aid in your care.” 

Tony patted the bed beside of him, and though she looked hesitating, a bit unsure at first, Frigga straightened the skirts of her dress and sat down beside of him. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate your efforts, but you didn’t just come here to feed me toast, Queen Frigga.” 

“Indeed I did, Anthony. I remember well how often my stomach was turned by seemingly inoffensive foodstuffs when I was expecting Thor. Loki tells me that you’ve lost weight over the course of the pregnancy, despite how far along you are and despite expecting more than one child. It’s important that we make certain you are able to keep down what you eat until the nausea abates in its entirety.” 

Tony hmmed in contemplation. “While I appreciate it, I’d really rather you not be skirting around what’s really on your mind. You’re worried about what Gamora did to me, Frigga, and I want to know why.” 

Frigga blanched, just ever so slightly, and if Tony weren’t so good at reading her son at this point, he might have missed it. 

“I see... well, then... you have not had anything odd happen, since you broke free from the structure the crystal encased you in?” 

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Not particularly, at least not by my recent standards.” He raised a challenging eyebrow. 

Frigga sighed. “Loki had wished that we wait to discuss the matter with you, that we give you some time to recover.” 

“Rather good fortune that he isn’t here right now, isn’t it? There was something I’d kind of been wanting to discuss with you myself, but we’ll get to that after you clarify just what the fuck that bitch did to me.” Tony would take the time to feel bad about referring to his future offspring so harshly, but really, considering the circumstances, fuck that. 

Frigga’s expression was disapproving, but he wasn’t going to bother feeling remorseful about that, either. Tony was so done with the people keeping things from him bullshit, along with the people handling him with kid gloves bullshit. Thus far, being pregnant didn’t seem too different from being an invalid, and he was so not a fan. 

“You underwent something called terrigenesis. The process is meant to endow humans with special abilities, certain powers, that would make them of use to the Kree in battle. Those affected by the Kree experiments, those with altered DNA, survive. Normal humans die when exposed to the mist in the terrigen crystals. No one who survives is unaltered... is still entirely human.” 

Tony was silent for a moment. “I’d kind of figured something along those lines. Really not glad you could confirm it, though.” He sighed. 

“Anthony, what is it you wished to discuss with me?” 

“Frigga, would you mind bringing Farbauti here for this? And whatever you do, make sure Loki doesn’t cotton onto the fact that anything is going on.” 

Frigga’s expression turned worried, and Tony almost felt bad. But there would be enough time for that later. Given how attentive Loki had been before Gamora attacked, this might be his last foreseeable chance to speak with Frigga and Farbauti in confidence for some time. 

When Frigga returned shortly thereafter with Farbauti, their vastly different faces were pulled into similar lines of concern. 

“What is it that you wished to discuss with us, Anthony Stark?” Farbauti’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet. 

Tony looked between the pair, distinctly dissatisfied with what he had to ask of them, but unable to come up with any better alternative. 

“If I survive the birth, I want you two to take them somewhere neither Loki nor I can find them, as far away from here and from me as possible.” 

Both Frigga and Farbauti looked at him with varying levels of confusion and horror. 

Frigga was the first to speak. “But Anthony, why would you...” 

He saw her eyes widen in comprehension. 

“But surely there must be some other way.” Her expression, however, was not hopeful. 

“Thanos has already proven he has control of me, in both mind and body. He could only have granted me this new power, whatever it may be, for his own use. When he decides to take control of me again, I’ll be a weapon at his disposal, and we already know he wants Gamora and Garmr. He wouldn’t even need to lift a finger himself to have them, if they remain near me. I cannot know where they are. I cannot be allowed near them.” 

The looks that Frigga and Farbauti turned on him were pitying, and they filled his mouth with the taste of bile. But he knew before they even opened their mouths to speak that he had their agreement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the link to the second fabulous piece of art that Letzi did for a scene in this chapter: http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/133151534004/frostiron-bang-2015-a-debt-payed-by


	11. The Birds and the Bees (and Aliens, Geeze)

Loki was, evidently, much less amused at being awakened by a mysterious intruder for the second time in as many weeks. Much, much less amused. By the time Tony’s mind had struggled its way to consciousness, Loki had their intruder pinned against the wall, hand wrapped tightly about their throat and glowing threateningly with magic as he all but growled at them. Slowly, Tony’s brain caught up with his eyes, and he recognized the riot of red curls sprouting from the intruder’s head, the skin tight black catsuit that they wore like a second skin. 

“Loki, let her go! For fuck’s sake, it’s Natasha!” 

Loki’s grip loosened, but he did not let go as he spun in Tony’s direction. 

“Breaking into our home in the dead of the night and sneaking into our bedchamber is hardly the work of a friend or an ally, Stark.” 

“Strangling her to death is hardly the work of anyone remotely intelligent, Loki.” He mocked the deity’s tone of voice, pinning him with a glare. “Assuming, for a moment, that she does have it out for us... what exactly do you think will happen when she doesn’t return home to Papa Fury and Momma Steve? We won’t just get a fucking house call then, Loki.” 

This time, Loki directed his growl at Tony, who rolled his eyes in response to Loki’s oh so typically melodramatic behavior. Granted, Tony hadn’t been forced to watch himself being attacked and turned to stone and waited for days to discover whether or not he was actually still alive... okay, so maybe the melodramatic behavior was a bit warranted this time. But Tony was so not about getting on Natasha’s bad side, and if Loki had enough time to attempt to strangle the spy, then he should have bloody well had enough time to disguise himself. 

Tony huffed a sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. “Look, Loki. Just let her go, and get the fuck out of here for a minute. You know I can handle myself if I need to.” Tony willed Loki to read between the lines on this one, to believe that Tony could still handle himself with magic if need be, even if his magic was a bit unstable at present. “You being here is just escalating the situation, Loki. Let me talk to Natasha. We always knew it was going to come to this sooner or later, so it might as well be now.” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed, his lips thinning. “Call for Banner. I’ll let the woman go and I’ll leave, but not until Banner gets here.” 

Tony’s own eyes narrowed in response. He hated that everyone felt he needed a babysitter now. He may have understood the concern, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. 

“Fine,” he bit out, reaching for his tablet to send an alert to Bruce. 

When Bruce arrived, in what seemed like seconds, he was out of breath and looked in horror between Loki, Natasha, and Tony. 

“Banner, Agent Romanov decided to break into our room this evening. Anthony wishes to speak with her without myself present, so if you would not mind remaining to be certain she is not here for any nefarious purposes, I will be on my way.” 

As Bruce nodded, still stunned, Loki gave Natasha a final, firm grip of warning about her throat and vanished in a puff of smoke. Tony collapsed back onto the bed, groaning in consternation. 

“Of all of the fucking ways for this to go down, this was really not what I was hoping was in the cards.” 

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, remaining where Loki had left her, against the wall with Bruce as a buffer between them. 

“What exactly is ‘going down,’ Tony?” 

“You mean why do I have a crazy space god that tried to conquer earth sleeping in my bed?” Tony laughed, but it was humorless. “Why don’t you tell me why you were breaking into my house first.” 

Natasha rubbed her throat pointedly. “I don’t really think you’re in a position to be asking me that until you’ve answered my question.” 

Tony sighed. “It’s not like I haven’t been sharing a bed with him, off and on, since before you all moved into the Tower.” 

He saw a tell-tale widening of Natasha’s eyes, not something that happened often. 

“Loki is Lyell?” 

Bruce was the one who sighed now. “Tony, do you mind if I cut the lights on?” 

Tony started and moved to cover the subtle curve of his abdomen and his lap with the comforter. 

“Yeah, go ahead Bruce.” 

When the lights cut on, Natasha’s surprise was obvious when she looked at him. 

“To make a long story short, Loki’s little attempt at mind control on me during the invasion didn’t go as planned.” He tapped the arc reactor. “I pissed him off and he made a little re-installation before things got more cozy between us.” 

Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “How exactly was that conducive to your fraternizing with Loki?” 

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. At first, it totally wasn’t. I thought he was a fucking bastard. To be honest, I still do most of the time, and I’d say the feeling is mutual.” Tony smiled with no small degree of fondness, which whoa, when did he actually go and start being overly fond of said bastard? 

“But a bigger bad has Loki on the run, which is why he decided to drop in on me. The arc reactor and bigger bad’s magic had some... unforeseen effects.” The way Natasha looked at his eyes said she was putting that picture together pretty rapidly. “Just, fuck. Natasha, I know it sounds implausible, I know it’s Loki... but think about this. He’s been around us, all of us, for how long now? What has he fucked with in all of that time? What world crisis have you seen him involved with, what have you seen that seemed like his handiwork? Because I’m betting the answer is nothing.” 

Tony looked toward Bruce. “Thor knows the monster that Loki’s running from, and I’ve had some all too close encounters with his minions, myself. I’ve let Bruce in on what I’ve known and suspected from almost the very beginning. The question is, are you going to trust my judgment, our judgment, or are you going to take this at face value because it’s Loki?” He paused. “Or does our judgment mean nothing, after what happened?” 

Natasha’s gaze swept over Bruce, softening ever so slightly, and then back to Tony. “Since you, Banner, and Thor all seem to be buying into his gimmick, if it is indeed a gimmick, and since I can’t say that I’ve seen any evidence of Loki’s handiwork around since he apparently started living with you,” her voice turned cold, “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, for now. I’m skeptical, however, and you’d better be forthcoming with anything and everything you know, and do it now.” 

“And we will, as soon as you tell us what you’re doing breaking into my house in the middle of the night.” 

Natasha was quiet for a beat too long. “Things have been suspiciously quiet with regards to your life recently, and that’s never a good sign.” 

Tony narrowed his eyes. “It’s more than that Natasha.” 

Her face was reluctant, but she conceded, and that worried Tony. 

“Pepper, Rhodey, Vision, and myself have some concerns with the way things are operating under the new team. Knowing Bruce and Thor were currently in residence with you, it seemed like you all had something in the works, and we wanted to vet our options.” 

Tony felt his face grow slack in shock. “You mean, you all thought we were team building over here, and you were thinking of joining?” 

Natasha rolled her eyes. “When you put it like that, it makes it seem like a singularly horrid idea. But in particular, our concerns are in regards to the Sokovia Accords.” 

Tony attempted to shake off the discomfiture he felt. “If that’s the case, then where are the rest of the Peanuts?” About that time, Tony heard the front doors swing shut and watched as Natasha quirked a small smile, obviously having signaled the others covertly while they were conversing. 

“Fucking Christ. Bruce, we’d better get downstairs before they encounter the alien division.” Tony noted Natasha’s brief look of query and decided to ignore it. He still had a few surprises in his own basket for the evening, if she hadn’t secretly signaled the whole team so they could drag the lot of them back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. 

Tony darted his eyes over to Bruce, who almost immediately noted the source of Tony’s hesitation and threw his robe to him. Tony discreetly wrapped it around himself before standing, hoping to keep that particular secret for a bit longer. When Bruce met his gaze and gave a small nod, he was satisfied that it had done a good enough job of disguising his condition. 

When the trio made their way down the stairs, Tony was surprised to see that Natasha had, in fact, been telling the truth, at least in this regard. Pepper, Rhodey, and Vision stood in his living room bemusedly facing Queen Frigga of Asgard, Farbauti-King of Jotunheim, Thor, and the still undisguised figure of Loki. Pepper especially looked perplexed as she looked between the Trickster and Tony, who came to a stop at Loki’s side. Loki subtly looked him over, seemingly checking that he was still unharmed, and Tony rolled his eyes in exasperation. When he turned to face the others once more, he could tell that both Loki’s concern and Tony’s reaction to it had not gone unnoticed by Pepper’s keen eyes. 

  


The shit storm that followed was nothing Tony had wanted to deal with in the wee hours of the night, or at all, really. Ultimately, he curled up on the sofa, his head resting in Loki’s lap, as Loki, Bruce, and Thor took over the explanations, with occasional interjections from Frigga and Farbauti. At some point, he drifted off fully, and when he managed to crack open his eyes again, predawn light was filtering in through the windows. He was still curled against Loki’s side, who was awake and watching him. When his eyes searched the rest of the room, he found that they were alone save for Pepper. 

“The others finally decided to go get some sleep. They just left a couple of minutes ago.” Pepper’s eyes as they looked him over were kind, but worried. 

She came to sit in front of his legs on the sofa, and Tony was surprised when Loki did not bristle in any fashion at her proximity to him. It seemed Loki’s adoration for Pepper had finally overcome his distaste for her former relationship with Tony. 

Then Pepper reached a hand hesitatingly toward Tony’s abdomen and he knew. One look at Loki’s face, and he knew that the others had told all of them. All of them knew the extent to which he’d been altered, the extent to which Thanos had played both himself and Loki. As Pepper’s hand came to rest lightly on that small curve of flesh, her face filled with a curious sort of wonder, Tony felt himself being slightly soothed by the moment. Would he have rather as few people know as possible for as long as possible? The answer was obvious; he still hadn’t even had time to wrap his head around the idea, much less the idea of people knowing. But he supposed having his oldest and closest friend by his side again, there to share a moment like this, was worth it. 

Pepper’s smile was cautious when she turned to face him, but blossomed when he returned it. 

“Oh, Tony. Why do you always think you have to do these things alone?” 

Loki huffed a laugh above him, and he half-heartedly punched the bastard in the stomach. He smiled charmingly as Loki let out an offended noise. Pepper’s smile was fond as she watched them. 

“I’m going to head to bed now. I’d suggest you two do the same.” She leaned in and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. 

The look Loki turned on him was exhausted, and Tony imagined it was mostly due to the strain of having to interact with his Avengers teammates in a civilized manner for an entire evening. As Loki wrapped his arms around him and teleported them to their bed, Tony didn’t really care, so long as it meant they both were able to sleep uninterrupted for the foreseeable future. 

  


Tony woke feeling warm and well rested. As he stretched, he felt the pleasant weight of Loki curled along his back, of his arm wrapped around his chest. As he relaxed back into the contact, he could feel Loki’s mind whirring to wakefulness, and soon felt the hot and hard length of him stiffening against his thigh. Instinctively, he arched into the contact, giving a low hum of pleasure as Loki pulled him closer, their hips in alignment, his cock hot and hard against Tony’s backside. The god growled lowly, voice still scratchy from sleep. 

“Do not taunt me, Stark. You’re in no condition to follow through on it.” 

Tony hmmed in thought, then squirmed a little, making Loki curse under his breath behind him. 

“Actually, I’m feeling better than I have in a while. And you know, doctors orders and what not.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, not that Loki could actually see it. But he could tell by the archness of Loki’s voice when the god responded that he was rolling his eyes. 

“Oh, yes. That certainly makes me randy, especially considering that two of your doctors are my mother and my dam.” 

Nonetheless, Loki manhandled Tony into turning to face him, eyes roving his face searchingly, and when he seemed satisfied that Tony was not lying, that he could find no signs of pain or discomfort on Tony’s face, his eyes softened and he curled his fingers into Tony’s hair. He pulled Tony flush against him, using his grip on Tony’s hair to bring them face to face, pressing an insistent kiss against his lips. 

Tony moaned into the contact, lips parting, and Loki’s tongue swept in to curl against his own. Tony pressed himself more flush against Loki’s body, toes curling as he pressed his clothed erection into contact with Loki’s. The god freed one hand from its hold on Tony’s hair, bringing it down to Tony’s hip as he pressed the mortal’s hips closer to his own, rocking slowly against him. He pulled away from the kiss, a small groan falling from his lips, and then they were grinding together, slow and leisurely, but Tony was absolutely wrecked from it. With the way Loki’s eyes had gone hooded and he was biting his lower lip, it seemed like the god was, too. 

Loki flipped them, pinning Tony’s body to the mattress with his own, ever so gentle in the way he held himself above Tony, not allowing his full weight to press against the gentle curve of the mortal’s abdomen. Tony’s legs parted, fell open for Loki to align himself between them, pressing their cocks flush against each other again, and Tony felt his toes curl at the fierce tug of want he felt deep in the pit of his belly. When their lips met again this time, the contact was unbearably gentle, Loki’s hands framing his face as they explored each others’ mouths. Tony felt his arms come up to curl around the god’s shoulders, and it wasn’t long before their hips moved restlessly against one another once more. As Tony wrapped his legs around Loki’s hips to press them even more closely together, he felt an unfamiliar pulse of dampness between his thighs and broke away from the kiss in confusion. 

Loki noticed his discomfiture, his gaze pensive as it roved across Tony’s features. Tony worried at his lower lip as Loki pulled slightly away. In a flash, Loki had divested them of their clothing, and as he kneeled above Tony, he directed a questioning look at him, a request for permission. Tony gave a small nod, closing his eyes in mortification as he felt Loki’s hands glide across the skin of his thighs, spreading them further. When he suddenly felt fingers probing the flesh behind his balls, he stiffened in surprise at the foreignness of the sensation and the swift ache of pleasure it sent shooting through him. He wrenched his eyes open, looking to Loki in a panic. 

Loki did not remove his hand, continuing the teasingly light caresses that were driving Tony to distraction and previously unknown levels of embarrassment. He saw the glow of Loki’s magic swirl through his eyes, certain if he dared to glance down at where Loki touched him, he would see that his hand also glowed that vibrant green. As the magic dissipated, Loki leaned down to nibble at his lower lip. 

“It appears that your physical transformation is complete, Stark.” 

Tony knew he should be relieved, that at least now, he had some chance of surviving the madness that Thanos had inflicted upon him. He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of, that his own lover had already shared this much of himself with Tony, had been brave enough to bare this to Tony. But Tony couldn’t help but feel bitter that his own body had been so thoroughly commandeered. Loki seemed uncannily aware of the thoughts flickering through his mind, the emotions he was trying so hard to hide, as his gaze softened and he pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s lips. 

“Stark, we do not have to continue this if you do not wish to. I assure you, I more than understand what you must be feeling at present.” 

Tony gave a small shake of his head, and he saw Loki’s brow furrow. 

“There is no need for you to be stoic, Anthony. I will not have you rush your adjustment to this.” 

Tony forced himself to meet Loki’s eyes. “You managed to trust me with the same, Loki. The least I can do is offer you that trust in return.” As the god’s lips thinned and he saw a flare of characteristic stubbornness enter Loki’s eyes, he offered up the one reason he knew Loki would be understanding of. “I won’t let Thanos take this from me, too. I won’t let him have control of me in this.” 

Loki’s eyes softened in understanding, and the god pressed another gentle kiss to his lips. Tony quirked a brow when he pulled away. 

“Since when did we actually start giving a shit about each other, Loki?” 

The god’s gaze, when it met his again, was comically bemused and not a little horrified. Tony cackled with genuine mirth at his expression, tangling his fingers in Loki’s hair to drag the god to him for a filthier, wet and open mouthed kiss. The god was stiff against him at first, but soon pressed heatedly into him, moaning against Tony’s mouth. Tony quickly found himself quite thoroughly distracted by Loki’s attentions to him, enough that he barely stiffened in surprise when Loki’s fingers dipped down to rub against him again, probing. Slowly, Tony adjusted to the strangeness of the sensation, legs falling further apart, unbidden, as the ministrations of Loki’s fingers became strangely pleasurable. Tony squirmed underneath Loki, feeling suddenly dissatisfied with the teasing brush of his fingers against his burning flesh. 

When Loki abruptly plunged two fingers inside of him, Tony gasped into his mouth, fingers scrabbling for purchase on Loki’s shoulders as his hips canted up into the contact. Tony was embarrassed at the amount of wetness he felt coating the skin between his thighs, but the increasing urgency of his want outweighed any shyness it might have caused. As Loki curled his fingers inside of Tony, Tony writhed underneath him, whimpering with the unfamiliar curl of need it sent ricocheting through him. He felt the low rumble of Loki’s breathless chuckle against his chest, fingers biting into Loki’s shoulders as he withdrew his fingers after scissoring them calculatedly inside of Tony. 

He felt a desperate sort of noise building in his throat, mortified that he might give voice to it, but before he could, he felt the blunt head of Loki’s cock pressing insistently against the fluttering opening between his thighs. As Loki slid home in one painfully slow thrust, Tony felt himself arch into the sensation, impaling himself more fully on Loki’s cock. He gave a wrecked moan at the fullness of the sensation, squirming underneath him. Loki’s mouth came down to meet him, kissing him with an almost desperate intensity, and his hips slowly pulled back until just the tip of his cock remained inside of Tony. Tony whimpered into his mouth and felt Loki grin maliciously against his lips before he drove himself with infuriating patience back inside of Tony’s body.

Loki kept up the languid pace, his fingers curled in Tony’s hair as he ravaged the mortal’s mouth, obviously delighting in the needy series of sounds he drew from him. Soon, though, he was panting with a desperation just as keen as Tony’s, his glamour shuddering and fizzling out from the intensity of his distraction. Tony moaned in satisfaction against his mouth, wrapping his legs tightly about Loki’s hips as he ground up into his thrusts in desperation. It wasn't long before he felt the tether of control Loki was holding over himself break, and the god began to fuck into him with abandon. Tony felt his legs come away from Loki’s hips, falling open as he tried in vain to keep up with the god’s furious pace. He felt something within him wind tighter and tighter still, finally snapping, and loosed a broken moan as he felt himself ripple and spasm around Loki’s cock, his own cock pumping futilely against his belly. 

He heard the god groan brokenly above him as he continued to fuck Tony, whose muscles still clenched and fluttered around him, and Tony squirmed in over-stimulation as he felt his cock begin to harden fully once more. He gave up trying to meet Loki’s thrusts, arms falling from the god’s shoulders as he gripped the bed sheets, whimpering as he felt the fever pitch of need begin to build once more, tight within his gut. Loki’s jaw was clenched, eyes squeezed tightly shut above him, and Tony felt his own eyes flutter shut as the god’s hips began to stutter against his, rocking into him slowly but more forcefully. 

The intensity of his first orgasm had barely begun to fade when he felt Loki drive into him at just the right angle, shooting a spark of pleasure down his spine that made that tight coil of pleasure break once more, and he all but whined when he felt his inner muscles clench and spasm around the hot length of Loki’s cock, his cock spurting half-heartedly between them once more. This time, though, he felt Loki still above him, felt the heat of the god’s own release deep inside of himself, and tasted blood as he bit into his lower lip to stifle the desperate flood of sounds that wanted to break free from him. Loki’s own gasp of pleasure was nearly lost to the ringing in his ears as the god collapsed bonelessly against him. 

It seemed like ages before either of them worked up the will to move again. Loki hoisted himself carefully off of Tony, his cock slipping from between Tony’s legs, as he wrapped himself around the mortal’s side. Tony stretched languidly, making a disbelieving sound of satisfaction as he stretched. The god chuckled breathlessly beside of him. He turned to his side, facing Loki, pressing himself snugly against the length of the god’s body. 

“That sure is a hell of a party trick.” Tony huffed a laugh against Loki’s chest as he spoke. 

Loki grunted inarticulately in agreement, wrapping his arms around Tony. They lay in companionable silence for some time, until Loki stroked a hand through Tony’s hair, pulling away ever so slightly to look him in the eyes. 

“I do care for you, Stark, in spite of my better judgment.” The god’s eyes twinkled, but there was something strangely vulnerable about his expression. 

Tony reached up, pulling the god’s face toward his and kissing him, uncharacteristically gentle. “I kind of care for you, too, Loki. Quite a lot, actually.” He paused and made a face. “But if you tell anyone I said that, I will vehemently deny saying something so sappy.” 

Loki’s eyes crinkled with mirth. “As, of course, will I, you crazed mortal.” 

Tony returned the god’s smirk, curling himself into the heat of Loki’s body once more. As he did, he felt a strange fluttering inside of him that he almost ignored, until the sensation returned moments later. Tony’s eyes widened in alarm as he brought his hand haltingly toward his belly. He saw Loki’s expression pull into lines of concern, but shook his head, reaching out for the god’s hand. As he brought it to rest on the slight mound of his abdomen, he saw the god’s eyes widen, that queer fluttering sensation inside of him increasing. 

Loki’s eyes shifted to where his hand rested, his fingers splaying underneath Tony’s to better feel the feather light movements of his offspring under Anthony’s skin. Tony’s hand spread over Loki’s, and he allowed himself to enjoy the moment, the look of almost tender fascination on Loki’s face, despite the pang of guilt he felt for the request he had made of Frigga and Farbauti behind Loki’s back. 

  


As Anthony drifted off to sleep, Loki found himself, hand still lightly draped over where his children grew inside of the mortal’s body, curiously reluctant to draw away. He examined the mortal’s face, relieved that the bruise like shadows beneath his eyes had lightened, that his skin was regaining its color and no longer looked so pallid. The depth of affection he felt for the other man was startling, as was the fierce curl of protective impulse he felt toward both him and their unborn offspring. Certainly, this was nothing that had been in his designs for the mortal, nor for himself, but he strangely could not bring himself to feel remorseful about the state of things between them. 

He felt the familiar brush of his mother’s magic at the edges of his awareness, and reluctantly untangled his limbs from Anthony’s as he glamoured himself into his Asgardian skin once more, quietly slipping away from their room and down the stairs to the library where his mother sat demurely upon one of the sofas. She stood to greet him, motioning for him to sit. As he did, he looked at her in query. 

“Loki, you will not be pleased by what I have to say. I daresay you’ll be quite the opposite, in fact.” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed and he motioned for her to continue. 

“It is time that we woke your father, Loki. If we are to go to war with Thanos, we will need more than just your mortal’s friends to aid us.” 

Loki’s mouth thinned in displeasure, but when he spoke, he could tell that his words startled his mother. 

“I am inclined to agree; though it pains me to say it, I’ve known for some time that it was unavoidable.” 

His mother searched his face before responding. “Then the matter is settled. We must return to Asgard to wake Odin.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the links to Letzi's fabulous art:  
> 1) http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/133151701784/frostiron-bang-2015-a-debt-payed-by  
> 2) http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/133151534004/frostiron-bang-2015-a-debt-payed-by


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